Impossible Exile
by sherlockedbyben
Summary: Twoufflé! A shift in time and an exile gone wrong leads to the second Doctor ending up in Eleven's timestream. With Eleven in danger and the Doctor's entire existence at stake, Clara goes on an adventure with the original raggedy man, the second Doctor. An adventure with a man she might not want to leave behind. Clara/Two bc why not aaay
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guysss, inspiration struck for a story so I'm gunna have a go at it. I just loveee Classic Who so mixing it with New Who is fabulousness at it's finest :) I have no idea if I'll continue with this story to be honest, I'm finishing off another story aswell at the moment so it all depends on if I get a good few reviews saying that they like the story. If you think it's no good, please tell me or any constructive criticism is welcome too. If you do like it and want me to continue, please review and let me know! Love you guysss :) Enjoy :)**

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Clara Oswald was not a morning person. She awoke groggily, dragging herself out of bed with a lengthly yawn and padding across the hall to the kitchen of her small London apartment. Every morning had to start with a cup of coffee, or functioning was not an option.

Clara sipped her hot beverage thoughtfully, waiting for the tiredness to subside. She smiled to herself as she prepared her papers for the day ahead. Knowing that it was Wednesday brought with it the fact that she was going to see the Doctor today, and that fact was the only thing that would keep her going through the long school day. She loved teaching the kids, but she loved travelling with her best friend more.

Throwing a nonchalant glance at the clock out of the corner of her eye, she realised with a sickening lurch of her stomach what time it was.

"Going to be late again!" She huffed to herself as she leapt up from the table rapidly, leaving her half finished cup of coffee behind her.

She grumbled to herself as she prepared for the day in a hurry. This dashing to school and arriving just in time was happening way too often for her liking.

She collected her book bag, praying that she had everything she needed inside, not having the time to check as she raced out of the flat and hurried down the street. She was grateful that it wasn't a long walk to the school. She knew she should be hurrying, but she soon drifted off into a day dream as she walked. She wondered what adventure the Doctor would have lined up for them today. She smiled to herself, not caring what other people thought. She was happy. Wednesdays with the Doctor were the highlight of her week.

She let out an "oomph" of surprise as she collided with something solid, almost losing her footing but fortunately catching herself just before she fell. Her book bag however, was not so lucky. It clattered to the ground, papers spilling out onto the street and flitting around her feet.

"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry!"

Clara snapped her head up to meet the male voice that had just spoken, her cheeks going red from embarrassment at her near fall.

"Are you alright?"

She was met with the sight of a man with a flustered but cheery expression on his face as he grabbed her shoulders to steady her. Clara studied him for a second, transfixed. She would place him around his mid forties, maybe late thirties, although the lines on his mischievous face looked to her to have been caused by a hard life, not age. He had a mop of jet black hair, cut in a bowl shape and was quite short. He was only slightly taller than Clara, and she was quite petite. All together, he wasn't bad, not bad at all. She had always found people out of the norm more attractive. One look at her extraordinary lifestyle travelling with the Doctor in a flying blue box would tell anyone that. Her eyes moved to his odd attire. A combination of checked trousers and a black jacket complete with a bowtie made her giggle despite herself. Something about him reminded her of the Doctor.

The man raised an eyebrow at her and she realised suddenly that he was still waiting for an answer.

"Oh, yes, I'm alright," She stammered with a light laugh. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

The man patted her on the head lightly as if checking that her brain was still functioning, causing Clara to blink in surprise. "Yes, well, everything seems to be in working order," He smiled, a contagious smile that seem to light up his whole face and had Clara grinning right back at him. "Ah, your notes are all over the place. Here, let me."

The man hurried over to the stray papers littering the ground nearby and began picking them up.

"Oh," Clara exclaimed, joining him. "You don't have to do that!"

"Nonsense! I'm the one that made you fall over."

"_Nearly_ fall over," Clara corrected with a smirk, helping the odd little man collect the notes.

"Quite right," The man straightened up, handing the papers back to Clara who took them gratefully. His voice had an old fashioned air to it when he spoke, but strangely it didn't seem out of place to Clara. It seemed to suit his character.

"Thank you,"Clara smiled. She raised an eyebrow playfully, surprising herself at how at ease she felt with the eccentric man after just meeting him. Her mood was instantly lightened by the man's presence. "To whom do I bestow the honour?" She asked jokingly.

The man laughed lightly. "A friend," He answered obscurely, not fully answering her question. He held out his hand to her. "And who might you be?"

"Clara, Clara Oswald," She smiled as the mysterious man shook her hand briskly.

"Well, Miss. Oswald," The man smiled warmly, clasping her hand between his the two of his. "It was a pleasure to meet you. Good luck!"

"Wait, you never told me your name!" Clara called, but the man had already moved past her briskly and was almost immediately swallowed by the crowd.

She carried on, pondering about the odd little man as she walked. She wished he hadn't left so hastily, she had enjoyed talking to him. He hadn't even told her his name. She frowned lightly to herself as she wondered. She was well aware of the fact that she was already late enough for work as it was, but stopped for a few moments anyway to make sure all her notes were still there and gather her thoughts. She sighed, wishing she could just skip work for the day, sighing more deeply when she knew she couldn't. She resumed her journey reluctantly, wishing that the Doctor would come and take her away now, before she had to get in trouble with her boss once again, all thoughts of the friendly stranger gone from her mind as she concentrated on the day ahead.

Checking her wristwatch briefly as she neared the school, she realised she was running even later than she had expected.

"Dammit," She muttered as she rushed to the doors, regretting having stopped for a short while on the way. There were fifteen minutes until class officially started, but she had missed the assembly. She huffed in annoyance, deciding to just go straight to her classroom and prepare for the day instead of meeting with her colleagues as was planned. They'd just have to deal with it.

She gave an annoyed sigh and stormed into her classroom briskly, plonking her bag down beside her desk with a thud, almost angry with herself. Once again, she was not a morning person.

"Well, that was a bit of a violent entrance, wasn't it?"

Clara jumped, letting out a small squeal of surprise at the unexpected voice. It was the man from earlier, sitting in one of the desks in the middle of the classroom, twirling a recorder in his hands as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"You!" Clara yelped in shock.

"You!" The man parroted back at her. "Miss Clara Oswald, how lovely to see you again!"

"What are you doing here?" She squeaked, more surprised than anything.

The man frowned for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing together in thought. "I don't know," He decided after a short pause. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, well, carry on."

He promptly began to play his recorder, still sitting at the desk and offering Clara no explanation as to why he was there. Clara stared. Yes, she was confused, but she was used to strange things so she almost just accepted it. Almost.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously, sitting down on one of the desks beside him as he continued playing the small instrument.

The man took the recorder away from his mouth. "Helps me think," He stated, resuming playing as soon as he had said the words. He actually played quite well, Clara noted.

She gave a playful smile. "Why do we keep meeting then, Mister Mysterious?"

The man looked amused at her comment as he lowered the recorder from his lips again to respond. "That, my dear, is what I'd like to find out."

He hopped up from the desk, knocking the recorder to the floor in his haste, seemingly not noticing. He stood in front of Clara and looked at her with a calculating gaze.

"What?" She questioned, feeling her heart speed up under his intense gaze.

"Would you mind my asking, how many hearts do you have?"

"I- What?" Clara choked out. "One, last time I checked!"

"Hmm, interesting," The man mumbled, studying her features. Clara raised an eyebrow questioningly. She was used to odd behaviour, she got enough of it with the Doctor to make her find strange situations almost normal, but she still wasn't sure who this peculiar man was. Why was he here?

"Oh!" Clara exclaimed as the man unexpectedly grabbed her face and held it between his strong hands firmly but gently so as not to hurt her.

"What are y-"

"Shhh!" The man hushed her frantically as he put his face close to hers, their noses almost touching, studying her carefully and slowly moving her head from side to side as if analysing her. Clara stared in surprise, not knowing how to react. The man blinked in confusion and released her face from his hold.

"Well that's odd," He muttered, beginning to pace the room as he frowned in thought.

"Yes, it is," Clara responded with a shaky laugh, knowing that they were both referring to different things. "Who are you?"

The man waved her questioned away, still frowning at the ground as he pondered.

"But you _seem_ human!" He cried suddenly, grabbing her hand and gazing at it. He dropped it almost immediately. "Yes, yes, very human."

"Well, of course I'm human!" Clara responded indignantly. "Why would you think I'm not?"

"I can sense something around you, like an... Aura of some sort," The man responded thoughtfully. "As if you've been in contact with something that's not from here."

"From... London?"

"Earth, Clara, Earth!"

"You mean... Like from another planet?" Clara choked out in disbelief. Who was this man? Did he know about the Doctor?

"Precisely!" The man exclaimed.

Clara jumped at the shrill ring of the bell signalling for students to make their way to class. She looked at the man with wide eyes as the students began to file in. Well _this_ looked good.

She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the familiar sound of the Tardis materialising outside. She rushed to the window to make sure she wasn't imagining it. She wasn't expecting him until later, was he really here now? The man joined her at the window, eyes widening in disbelief as he caught sight of the Tardis in the distance.

"Oh my giddy aunt!" He cried, rushing away from the window to the door. Clara giggled at the phrase. She wasn't sure who this man was, but she liked him already. "Oh!" He exclaimed, doubling back and picking his recorder off the floor, giving it a twirl. "Mustn't forget this."

"Wait!" Clara cried, ignoring the curious gazes of the students that were now filling the small classroom. "I'm coming with you!"

The man paused briefly at the door, looking back at her. "Well, if you must." He grinned. "Come on then, Clara!"

"Sorry kids," Clara grinned at the students surprised gazes and ran after the man, who actually moved surprisingly fast. An excited buzz coursed through her as they raced towards the Tardis and she felt excitement ignite in the pit of her stomach.

The man flung open the Tardis doors and rushed inside. Clara immediately realised something strange was going on. The man had just let himself into the police box without question and didn't seem in the least bit concerned at the fact that it was bigger on the inside. He knew of aliens, she was sure of that now, but how much did he know?

Clara followed him in, the doors closing behind them.

"Ah, Clara!" She heard the Doctor call as he came into view from behind the console. "I know I'm early bu- Oi!"

A look of shock and recognition flitted across the Doctor's face as he caught sight of the stranger. Clara looked from one to the other in surprise. Did they know each other?

The man approached the Doctor slowly, looking doubtful. Neither spoke for a moment as the walked towards each other at a slow pace, anticipation building in Clara's stomach as she wondered what was going on. The two men seemed to move like swimmers under water as they moved in a slow circle, staring questioningly at each other and waiting for one of them to say something first. They stopped, standing close in front of each other, the man looking comically short in such close proximity with the Time Lord as he looked up at the Doctor with an expression of shock mixed with unsureness on his face.

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something but the man cut him off before he could speak.

"Snap!" He cried, clapping his hands in front of the Doctor's face, causing him to blink with surprise. "I knew it was you, of course I did!"

"But it's you!" The Doctor cried in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know!" The man cried angrily. "I think I may have been exiled!"

"Exiled? You idiot."

"Imbecile."

"Prat."

"Stop insulting yourself, you dunce."

Clara blinked as the two men glared at each other, wondering if she should step in. The mysterious man suddenly broke into a broad grin and laughed loudly, throwing his arms around the Doctor. The Doctor gave a loud guffaw and hugged him back, the two men erupting into fits of laughter, leaving Clara feeling more confused than ever.

"What is going on!" Clara cried, confusion flooding her.

"Ah, Clara, yes!" The Doctor exclaimed as if only realising she was there. "It is _good_ to see you!"

"Thanks, Doctor, same to you," Clara shook her head slowly, looking at the two men warily, still puzzled as to what was going on.

"You're welcome, Clara," The man smiled at her in amusement. "What are you thanking me for?"

Clara blinked in surprise, her mouth dropping open. "Wait," She stammered. "You... No... Are you... Who _are_ you?"

"I'm the Doctor!" The man exclaimed happily as if he hadn't just made the most outrageous statement in the world.

"You... What do you mean!"

"I mean what I said," The man frowned, puzzled at her outburst. "I'm the Doctor."

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**Haha, so I don't know if this is any good but I thought it would be a fun idea anyway! Review to let me know if you want me to continue!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm gunna start chapter two now because I'm in a writing mood :) Hope you guys are enjoying the story, as I said I have no idea if I'll continue this, it all depends on whether people actually like it or not, it could be a terrible story for all I know :p I'm not that great a writer according to my English results haha :) Anyways, hope at least someone is enjoying it, and if you are please leave a review, it'd make my day!**

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"The Doctor? You're the Doctor? But he's the Doctor!"

Clara walked up to the curious man that had just claimed he was a Time Lord- No, the _same_ Time Lord, as her Doctor, her chinboy Doctor. This time it was her turn to study him. She craned her neck to look up at him , though he was quite short so she conveniently didn't have to reach very far, and looked at him carefully. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She somehow knew in her heart that this _was_ the Doctor. He raised his eyebrows at her. She grinned.

"How does that work then?"

"Well-"

"I am him, and he is me," The new Doctor interrupted his Eleventh self before he could explain, causing him to frown in disapproval. Clara chuckled at the Time Lord's giddyness.

"I don't believe it," She shook her head with a smile. "There's two of you! One was bad enough!"

"Oi!" The two Doctor's cried simultaneously, crossing their arms indignantly. Clara bit back a smile at the comical scene.

"Stop crossing your arms when I'm crossing mine, Chinny."

"Bog off!"

"Oi!" Clara laughed. "Stop fighting! Explain."

"What is there to explain?" The Doctor she knew well questioned as he walked to the console and leaned on it thoughtfully. "We obviously have a problem here."

"You two shouldn't be here at the same time, should you?" Clara frowned.

"I like this one," The earlier incarnation of the Doctor turned to his future self approvingly. "She's smart."

Clara laughed at the jibe. This felt surreal. There were two Doctor's. She looked from one to the other, attempting to take it all in.

"Which one are you then?" Clara asked, turning to the new arrival again. "Which... Incarnation?"

"He's my second self," The Eleventh Doctor stated proudly, earning a glare from the second Doctor. He smiled smugly, clearly feeling accomplished at interrupting his past self. He was such a child.

Clara rubbed her temples lightly, trying to absorb all the information that was being thrown at her. "Well this is weird."

"Yes, it is," The second Doctor stated gravely with a look of slight horror in his eyes. "I mean look at his eyebrows! I'm going to have non-existant eyebrows!"

"Hey!" The Doctor cried indignantly as Clara doubled up laughing. She felt slightly guilty for laughing at the expense of her friend but he was being insulted by himself so she decided it didn't count.

"On the bright side, I see I've maintained my impeccable dress sense," The Doctor eyed his Eleventh self's bowtie approvingly.

"Bowties are cool," The Doctor responded with a smile.

Clara moved across the room to sit down on one of the benches. She felt if she didn't sit down now, her legs would give out with the overload of shock and confusion.

"-Can't believe I regenerated into someone so young-"

"Come on then, Doc," Clara laughed. "Stop talking to yourself and explain this to me. How did you get here?"

The second Doctor nodded with a brisk, cheery smile and bounded over to where she was sitting, plonking himself down beside her as he began to speak.

"Well, I was exiled I think. I'm sure. Ninety seven per cent," The Doctor frowned, causing Clara to laugh at his exuberant personality. "But something must have gone wrong because I'm not suppose to be in _his_ timestream," He stated gruffly, jabbing a finger at the other Doctor. "So, if I'm being honest, I haven't the faintest idea." He sat back with an accomplished smile as if he'd just explained everything. This only left Clara more confused. Exile? Exile gone wrong?

"But it's odd," He began again before the others could speak. "They didn't even leave me my Tardis. Why would they do that?" He frowned as he reached into his oversized pockets and retrieved a key. He held it out to Clara who took it curiously and looked up at him questioningly.

"Do you feel that?" He asked earnestly.

"Feel what?"

"Exactly."

Clara stared at the key. "This is the key to the Tardis?"

"_My _Tardis," The Doctor corrected with a vigorous nod. "Now, what does it feel like?"

"Well," Clara began, cautiously, turning the key over in her fingers as she struggled to find the words that best described it. "It's... Cold. Stone cold. And grey."

"Good job, Clara," The eccentric Time Lord smiled at her, taking the key from her and studying it himself. "Spot on. It feels dead! Wherever my Tardis is, it's not close, otherwise the key would feel warm. It would glow."

He tossed the key to his future self who caught it expertly despite his lanky limbs that made him appear uncoordinated. "Put that somewhere safe, there's a good chap."

The Eleventh Doctor placed the key carefully on the Tardis console and looked at the other Doctor.

"This exile, what was it for?" He questioned, his almost non existant eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to dig up buried memories.

"I interfered with time and was put on trial," Was the haughty response. "I don't see how I did anything wrong! I was helping!"

"But... You were supposed to regenerate!" The Doctor protested. "The Time Lords, they forced you to regenerate as part of your sentence!"

"They can do that?" Clara asked in disbelief. "That's barbaric!"

The second Doctor nodded grimly. "The Time Lord's are a corrupt race, I'll be the first to admit that." He looked to his future self with a frown. "Force me to regenerate? Yes, they did say something about that... I was sent away from Gallifrey before they brought on the regeneration though. How peculiar."

"Time has been meddled with," The Doctor wrung his hands nervously. "You've been taken out of your timestream instead of being forced to regenerate but why? Is this the Time Lord's doing?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," The second incarnation scoffed.

"Yes, my guess _is_ as good as mine."

Clara was feeling hopelessly confused. She was still trying to get her head around the fact that these two men were not only aliens, but were also the same person. She hadn't thought it was possible for the Doctor to meet his other selves.

"What's going to happen now?" She piped up. "If you escaped your regeneration, will that change the future?"

"Well it hasn't yet," Was the optimistic reply from the second Doctor. Clara smiled. This Doctor had such a bubbly personality it was almost impossible to feel stressed in his presence.

"So, you know what they say," Clara attempted to make light of the situation. "Two heads are better than one. God, I can't believe I just clichéd at you," She shook her head with a scoff, folding her arms across her chest with a raised eyebrow at the two Doctors. "Got a plan, boys?"

The second Doctor bit down on his finger lightly as he considered. "Not yet no."

"Sorry, nothing here either."

Clara sighed at the two Time Lord's. These two, or one, she wasn't sure how to phrase it, were completely irresponsible, she knew from experience. They couldn't be trusted not to do something stupid. She was going to have to try and get them to formulate some sort of a plan which would work out well for everyone.

"Right, we need to-" She stopped suddenly as she thought she saw a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to look at the Tardis console. The Doctor's key was sitting on the control panel, giving off a faint pulsing glow.

"Doctor!" She yelled. "Your key!"

The alien leapt over to the console and gripped the edges, gazing at the key. He reached out to pick it up.

"Don't touch it!" The Eleventh Doctor warned hastily but he was too late. The earlier regeneration of himself pulled back his hand with a startled yelp.

"It bit me!"

"It didn't bite you," His future self sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. "It burned you, you know how powerful that energy is!" He pinched the bridge of his nose at his other self's recklessness. "I always was a bit of a clown in that regeneration."

"Are you alright?" Clara asked, slightly worried.

"Yes, fine, fine," The Doctor flapped his hands at her as if waving her concerns away. "It's this key that I'm more concerned about."

"Should it be doing that?" Clara questioned, moving to stand beside him and get a better view of the key. It seemed to be getting brighter, the glow emitting from it becoming stronger.

"It does that when the Tardis is near," The Time Lord began slowly. "So that means-"

He was cut off as the Tardis lurched violently, knocking them sideways.

"What's going on?" Clara yelped, trying to pick herself up off the ground but being thrown down again almost immediately. "Space turbulence?!"

"We're coming into contact with something!" The fez wearing Doctor called frantically as he heaved himself up from the ground, using the Tardis console as support and gazing at the scanners. "Come on, old girl, don't you give up on me!"

"Are you alright, Clara?" The other Doctor offered his hand for Clara to take, having already heaved himself up, clinging to the Tardis console for dear life.

"I've been better!" Clara half smiled, almost having to shout to be heard over the roar of the Tardis engines. She took the Doctor's hand gratefully as he heaved her up and pulled her to him. She clung to his jacket, hanging on for dear life. The Tardis was heaving and lurching from side to side, sparks beginning to emit from the console.

"Are we crashing?" Clara yelled frantically.

"Probably!" The Doctor she was holding on to shouted back, doing nothing to calm her nerves as they nearly toppled over again. "Don't worry, it's only a possibility!"

"Doctor, the key!" Clara gasped. The glow was unbearably bright now and it was beginning to give off a low hum.

"Hold on!" The Doctor cried, trying to keep a hold of Clara and the Tardis console at the same time. Clara didn't think she could hold on any tighter if she tried.

"No, no, no, no, _no!_" The Eleventh Doctor cried in anguish as the Tardis gave another sickening lurch. "No, this isn't good. Hold o-"

Clara didn't get to hear the end of his sentence. She squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face in the Doctor's chest as the Tardis gave a final groan and crashed into something at full force. Clara pressed her lips together tightly in an effort not to scream but couldn't help emitting a small squeak.

She yelled as they were suddenly propelled forward and onto the floor. She threw out her arms to break her fall, certain she was going to have bruises after this. She heard the Doctor let out an exclamation of surprise and pain as he too hit the ground.

The ship was still. Clara opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see the ruined remains of the Tardis. She gasped in shock and sat up quickly as she took in her surroundings.

"My Tardis!" The second Doctor exclaimed, picking himself up off the ground with an expression of joy on his face.

Clara gaped at the scene in front of her. They were in the Tardis, but it wasn't the Tardis she knew. She stood up slowly, walking over to the console and trailing a hand across it lightly. It looked more... Basic. And white. She spun around slowly in a full circle. The whole room had a simple, white theme, with strange circular structures decorating the walls. It seemed smaller, but she wasn't sure if it was just her imagination or not. The console was white also, although there were a few colourful instruments situated on it, and it held just as many buttons and levers as the Tardis she knew.

She turned to face the Doctor, opening her mouth to speak. She stopped suddenly, realising that there was something missing.

"Where's the Doctor?" She gasped. "I mean, the other one!"

The second Doctor's face fell and a look of dread passed over his features. He looked around the room as if to check that his future self wasn't hiding somewhere.

"Oh dear," He muttered, wringing his hands together. "It seems we've lost the young fellow. I never was good at not losing things."

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**Chapter's one and two written and posted in one day, haha I'm in a writing mood :) Once again, I don't know if I'm gunna continue but I will if people like it, so hopefully ye will. If you like the story and want me to continue please review, it'd make my day :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three aaay, I hope people are reading this, no one's reviewing so idk how I'm doing with the story and if you guys like it, but whatever I've decided I'm gunna keep writing anyway cause it's fun :) Enjoyy!**

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Clara shook her head in disbelief, beginning to feel worried for the fate of the Eleventh version of the Doctor as she stared with wide eyes at number Two. "You mean... You lost you?"

The Doctor cleared his throat, looking perlexed. "Well, yes, you could say that."

He moved away from the console, looking sheepish as he fixed his bowtie in a gesture not unlike his Eleventh self. He sat down on a seat beside the wall and propped his head up with his hands, deep in thought. Clara fidgeted nervously for a moment before moving to sit down beside him. He didn't seem to notice her movement, too preoccupied with whatever thoughts were whizzing around inside his head. Clara hoped a plan was formulating in there somewhere, because she was coming up blank. She reached out and took one of his hands gently, giving it an encouraging squeeze. She had never seen this Doctor so silent before, she hoped their situation wasn't too serious.

He looked up at her touch, his eyes meeting her own. Clara hadn't noticed how blue his eyes were, the perfect light blue colour of the sky on a calm day. They were friendly and gentle when he looked at Clara, but she could see the deep mystery he held inside them. He sighed, looking down at the floor again and snapping Clara out of her thoughts.

"I just don't know..." He muttered with a frown. "Was this the Time Lord's doing? If it was, what in Rassilon's name are they playing at!"

He stood up suddenly and began pacing aggitatedly, deep in thought. He picked up his recorder almost absentmindedly and began to play a sweet melody that relexed Clara almost instantly. She remembered what he had told her about it helping him think and could see why. After a minute or two the music increased in tempo as the Doctor got more annoyed with himself and he eventually gave up with a sigh, scartching the back of his head thoughtfully.

"What are we going to do?" Clara asked, breaking the sudden silence that the music left in it's wake. "Where are we?"

"Right now, we're simply suspended in space," The Doctor explained, gazing at the Tardis scanners. "The Tardis coordinates have been set but it won't let me see what they've been set to, which is very peculiar. I could send a recall signal to my future self but..." He frowned again, shaking his head in frustration. "I can't! It just won't work. It's like my other self has been taken out of time."

"That's not good, is it?" Clara mumbled anxiously. "We've got to do something!"

"Well I know that, my dear," The Doctor twirled his recorder in his hands. "The question is, what _do_ we do?"

Clara approached the Tardis console and pointed at it, raising an eyebrow. "You put this ship in motion, what happens?"

"We end up wherever the source of all this is, I expect," The Doctor pondered, a slow smile beginning to spread across his face. "What do you think? Are you up for it?"

Clara considered, a smile of her own beginning to form. "Do we know what'll be out there?"

"Nope."

"Will it be dangerous?"

"Most definitely."

"Have you got a plan?"

"Not even the bgeinnings of one."

"Let's do it," Clara grinned, causing the Doctor to laugh and move excitedly around the console, pushing buttons and pressing lever at a fast pace.

"And, we're off!" He cried, pulling back one last lever as the Tardis gave a huge jolt and they were thrown backwards. Clara clung to the console, managing to keep herself upright this time. She grinned, excitment running through her at the prospect of an adventure with this new Doctor. The bumpy journey thankfully lasted a lot shorter than the latest one, as the Tardis landed with a large thud. Clara let out a breath of relief. She looked at the Doctor, the excitement in her eyes mirroring his own.

"Where are we?" She breathed, jabbing her thumb at the doors behind her.

The Doctor winked. "I suggest we find out."

He took Clara's hand and pulled her towards the door, stopping just short of them. He looked at her questioningly, as if about to voice something he was unsure about. "Are you going to be alright? The regeneration of myself that you're used to travelling with isn't here, don't you feel... Unsafe?"

Clara considered her answer. The truth was, she felt safe with this Doctor, though she wasn't sure why. She had only just met him, but she felt as if she would be ok as long as he was with her. "You're still the Doctor," She offered him a gentle smile. "Of course I feel safe with you."

He smiled at her warmly and Clara loved the way it made his whole face light up, forgetting for a moment the potential danger they were about to walk into. The Time Lord opened the Tardis doors quickly and they made to step out. Clara let out a shriek as she felt her footing fall unexpectedly.

"Careful!" The Doctor yelled in concern, pulling Clara back and keeping his arm around her protectively. He looked down at the scene outside the Tardis, eyes widening in shock. "Oh my word."

Clara took a shuddering breath as she held onto the Doctor, trying to recover from her shock. She peeked outside again. The were on the ledge of a sheer drop, ending in black nothingness, filled with a smoky shroud. Sparks of red flames shot up from the abyss every few seconds, creating an intimidating picture. One centimetre closer and the ship would have tumbled off the ledge.

"Doctor," Clara whispered. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," He muttered cautiously. "Never been here before. Come on, stay close to me."

He moved in front of her, beginning to make his way across the narrow ledge. Clara's heart accelerated in fear for him. One wrong move and he could easily fall. She let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding as he made it past the small gap between the Tardis and the egde of the cliff. He laughed happily and clapped his hands together.

"See, easy as pie," He grinned, holding his hand out to her. "Be careful, Clara."

Clara nodded nervously. She'd never had very good balance and if there was one thing she hated it was heights. She took a deep and breath and took her first step onto the ledge.

"You made this seem a lot easier than it actually is, Doc," She joked nervously.

"Don't worry," She could hear the amused smile in the Time Lord's voice. "Just a few steps and you'll be able to reach my hand. You'll be fine."

"I don't have great balance, Doctor," She hissed hurriedly as she moved cautiously along the dangerously narrow ledge, trying not to let the fear she felt seep into her voice. She didn't want the Doctor to think she was weak. _Don't look down, _She thought to herself as she kept her gaze fixed at the Doctor's outstretched hand.

"You can do it, Clara, I promise."

Clara took another tentative step forwards, and then another. She could almost reach the Doctor's waiting hand now. She went to take another step but a fragment of rock broke away beneath her foot, causing her to slip. She screamed in terror as she tumbled over the edge, all she could see was the dark, black abyss hurtling towards her.

Before she could fall out of reach of the ledge, she felt the Doctor grab her arm tightly.

"It's ok, Oswald, I've got you!"

Clara grasped at his arm frantically as he struggled to pull her up. She felt unable to string a coherent sentence together in her panic.

"Come on, Ozzy, hep me out here," The Doctor moaned, causing Clara to almost laugh at his choice of nickname. "Find a foothold, any foothold."

Clara did as she was told, scrambling at the rocks with her feet desperately until she finally found some sort of grip. The Doctor heaved her up onto the ledge again and towed her to safety. She let out a small squeak of relief as she stood on her own two feet, shaking slightly, her heart racing.

"See," The Doctor stated gruffly as he brushed dust off his jacket. "I don't break promises."

Before she knew what she was doing, Clara threw her arms around the Time Lord and hugged him tightly, causing him to stumble backwards in surprise. He caught himself just in time and chuckled slightly, wrapping his arms around her in turn.

"Thank you, Doctor," Clara breathed as she pressed her face into his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to rid herself of the picture of the sheer drop that had been her fate just seconds ago. He mumbled something along the lines of, _"You're welcome," _ almost embarrassed as Clara hugged him tighter, not wanting to let go.

"Um, yes, er," The Doctor stammered as Clara showed no sign of releasing him. He patted her back gently. "We'd better get a move on then."

"Oh, yeah," Clara let go of him quickly, nodding vigorously, feeling herself blush. The Doctor took her hand and led her across the barren wasteland they had ended up in. Clara looked around her.

"Well, this is somewhere I would _not_ like to live," She muttered. "You know what, I think I'd prefer to live in a box," She winked at the Doctor jokingly as he laughed.

"Well you're not the best for making life decisions, Oswald. I'm sure your mother must have told you not to get into a box with a strange man and yet here you are."

Clara laughed, pushing him playfully. Her smile slipped as she looked around her again. The place was dark, there was just enough light to see and she wasn't sure whether it was night or if this planet was like that all the time. Nothing seemed to grow there, it was like a dark, desolate, volcanic desert.

"Is there anyone at all living here?"

"I don't think many do," The Doctor murmured thoughtfully. "Except maybe the people who live _there_."

Clara moved her gaze to where the Doctor was pointing at a small building not far away from where they were. It looked almost like a factory although it seemed far too small to be. It was dark, grey and looked almost unused except for the miniture lights emitting from the walls, indidcating that it had windows. It was round in shape, like a dome and had a short tunnel protruding from it. The front door, Clara assumed.

The Doctor began to speed up as they approached it.

"We're going inside, aren't we?" Clara grinned at the Time Lord who smiled back at her mischeiviously.

"Suspicious looking building showing the only signs of live on a desolate planet? Of course we're going inside!"

Clara laughed and quickened her pace to match the Doctor's as they approached the door. Clara half expected to be stopped by guards of some sort, but there was no one there.

"Do you usually use the main door when you break into private places?" Clara questioned with a smirk, raising an eyebrow.

"What better way to make an entrance," The Doctor winked. "Besides, I'm sure you noticed there are no guards out here to stop us?"

Clara paused, considering his words thougthfully. "Someone wants us to go inside."

"Precisely!"

Clara grinned as the Doctor took out what looked to be an older version of the sonic screwdriver she was used to seeing, and aimed it at the door. She heard the lock open with a small click and the Doctor pushed the door gently and peeked inside. He froze.

"What is it?" Clara craned her neck to look over his shoulder in an attempt to get a better view of the inside of the small building.

"Oh my word," The Doctor muttered. "It's-"

"Bigger on the inside!"

"Of Time Lord origin!"

The Doctor and Clara looked at each other with wide eyes as they stated the two correct facts simutaneously.

"Time Lord's wouldn't come to a planet like this," The Doctor whispered to her. "Too small, too desolate, not important enough. So what are they playing at?"

He moved inside the empty room which was twice, almost three times the size of what it should be had it been a normal builidng. It was a large room, mainly empty except for a few computer screens and several sturdy metal doors lining the walls. Clara noticed a security camera in the top right hand corner, blinking at them.

"Doctor-" She began in an attempt to warn him but was cut off when one of the doors adjacent to them burst open. A group of three men dressed in black armour and wearing black helmets that hid their faces powered through. They were carrying guns bigger than Clara had ever seen, putting her on edge immediately. She pressed closer to the Doctor as the men approached. The Doctor put an arm around her protectively, making her feel slightly safer. She still felt unnerved at the fact that she couldn't see the men's faces, covered by the colossal helmets.

One of the intimidating men stepped closer and stopped, raising the gun and pointing it directly at the Doctor's head.

"You are the Doctor," It stated in a deep monotone voice.

"Yes, I know, I have been for quite a while now. I was born-"

"Cease talking!" The guard interrupted. "We are placing you under arrest. You and your human companion will come with us."

"Oi!" Clara began indignantly. "You-"

"Come on, Clara, we better humour him," The Doctor stated cheerily, letting himself be led away by the group of guards. Clara gulped as she was marched along behind him, hoping he was formulating some sort of plan. The were led through a series of dark tunnels at a quick pace. The guards were short and their strides were small, but they marched quickly in a military fashion, causing Clara and the Doctor to almost have to run to keep up woth them.

Clara had to shield her eyes against the bright light as one of the men opened the huge double doors looming in front of them and they exited the dark tunnels into a round, brightly lit room. Clara blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light as she looked at her surroundings.

The room was absolutely huge, no doubt that it was of Time Lord origin now. In the centre was a colossal machine, emitting a small green glow. It had more buttons and gadgets on the console than she could count. She knew straight away it couldn't be being used for anything good. There were what looked to be hundred soldier-like people in the room, some standing as if ready for duty, some sitting at computer screens and typing rapidly, oblivious to their sudden precense. They were almost identicle to the guards that had brought them in only they wore blue armour instead of jet black. She wonder if this was to do with different ranks.

She couldn't believe this huge room could fit inside such a small building. She wondered if it was a spaceship like the Tardis, or if it was just a building. She wished she knew more about Gallifrey. She looked to the Doctor who was looking around the room casually as if he was used to this wort of thing. She realised suddenly that he probably was. She hoped that if they got out of this, he'd take her to see Gallifrey some day. That is, if he wasn't still on the run from the Time Lord's.

"Doctor, child of Gallifrey!" Clara's attention was brought to another man dressed in the same shiny blue metal armour as the others. Clara gaped at his apprearence. She had just assumed that they were humans, but she now sure that they were most definitely not. She moved close to the Doctor, grateful when the intimidating guards didn't stop her.

"They're potatoes," She whispered, eyes wide at the ugly, stout creatures surrounding them, all sporting large, bulbous heads on top of short, stocky bodies.

The Doctor gave a loud snort as he tried and failed to suppress his laughter. "Sontarans," He corrected quietly as the Sontaran leader glared at them. Clara thought they resembled soldiers, their stance was of a military fashion. The Sontaran leader snarled at them angrily, revealing rows of uneven, jagged teeth which almost matched the colour of his deep brown skin.

"I am Commander Stor, and you, Time Lord, will cooperate with our plans. You are not required to ask questions."

"Well I would like to ask one question if that's alright," The Doctor put his hands together in front of him and smiled cheerily at the strange aliens. "Actually, now that I think about it, I have quite a few questions that need to be answered. First of all, why are we here?"

Commandor Stor nodded to the group of Sontarans that had brought Clara and the Doctor to the room and they obediently grabbed the two companions, holding them in place.

The Doctor figited in annoyance against the two Sontarans that had a hold of each of his arms. "Is this really necessary? We're unarmed!"

"Unarmed?" Stor scoffed. "You are the most powerful weapon we have at this very moment in time!"

The Doctor frowned in confusion. Clara struggled against the Sontaran holding her in place, wanting to know what was going on and hating feeling so restrained. He only tightened his grip.

"Get off!" She snapped, annoyance taking over momentarily. The Sontaran holding her growled aggressively.

"Do we really need the human alive? She is infuriating."

Stor opened his mouth to speak but the Doctor cut in before he could utter a sound.

"You dare harm her and I'll make sure you regret it," The Time Lord growled, his voice filled with intimidating anger. The tone he used was so threatening that it even stopped Commander Stor in his tracks. "Leave her alone."

Clara felt the Sontaran's grip on her lessen slightly, although he didn't let go completely. She had never seen the Doctor look so intimidating. She now understood why they called him the Oncoming Storm.

Commander Stor cleared his throat. "Right, let's get down to business, we don't have long," He stated flatly, forgetting about Clara. "This time, not even you will be able to stop us, _Doctor. _You will perish."

"What are you planning?" The Doctor asked inquisitively. "You might as well tell me, if I'm going to perish anyway."

The Sontaran raised an eyebrow with a smug smirk. "I'm surprised you haven't already figured it out. Although we have learned from recent events that Time Lord's are not as clever as they appear to be."

A round of sudden laughter erupted amoungst the Sontarans occupying the room at Stor's words. Clara and the Doctor exchanged a quick glance. He looked just as confused as she felt, but suspicion shrouded his features. Clara had a feeling that he had a theory about what might be happening, and she didn't think it was good.

"Now as much as I like jokes, I also like to know what's going on," The Doctor glared at Stor. "The punchline?"

"Oh you'll love this story, Doctor, it's a good one," Stor smirked. "What should we call it? _The_ _Betrayal of the Time Lord's _sounds just about right!"

Commander Stor began to walk slowly around the room as he spoke, approaching the large piece of glowing machinery in the middle of the room and giving it a proud glance.

"The greed of your race will bring about it's downfall," The Sontaran continued. "I'm sure you're wondering why you were not forced to regenerate as was told before you were exiled?"

"I'm wondering a lot of things at the moment."

"I'm sure your other self is too," Commander Stor nodded knowingly. "He might be a... Predicament. We had a problem getting him here you see. He's stuck, taken out of time. But no matter! We've still got you."

Clara stomach twisted in knots. She almost didn't want to here about these aliens and their master plan. She looked to the Doctor. His expression was neutral, although he was frowning slightly.

"We made a deal with the Time Lord's," Stor explained. "They wanted you out of the way but they didn't want your blood on their hands. They were going to simply force you to regenerate and exile you as punishment, hoping it would keep you out of trouble for a while at least. Cowards," He scoffed. "But that's where we came in. Do you happen to recognise this?"

He held out a strange metal object to the Doctor who looked at it curiously. The Sontaran's released him and he took the small capsule, inspecting it carefully. Clara craned her neck to get a better look. She had never seen anything like it before, so she had no idea what it was. She could tell the Doctor recognised it though, by the way his eyes widened in disbelief and horror as he turned it over in his hands.

"Where did you get this?" He breathed, astonished.

"We found it. One of our loyal soldiers stumbled across it during a recent war. It was buried, buried deep, obviously it didn't want to be found, but a bomb opened up the ground around it and soldier Stye was able to retrieve it from the mud before it was destroyed."

"You've used it," The Doctor glared accusingly at Stor. "It's energy has been drained, it's dead!"

"Yes, we used it to jump through time and space to where you were just at the moment of deliberation of your sentence," Stor nodded proudly. "We studied it for many years, realised that it had enough energy to make us strong and help us win an entire war. But then we thought, why not win all wars? We understood that there was only enough energy for one jump, so we chose well. We jumped to that specific time and convinced the Time Lord's to let us imprison you on our home planet in exchange for not waging war on their race. We were given this Time Lord technology," He gestured to the room around them. "All to simply get you out of their way. They know that our prisons are most secure, so exiling you here was their perfect solution, an alernative to your forced regeneration and exile to Earth. And they figured that if you died here, it wouldn't be there problem anymore, they would not be to blame."

"They wouldn't do that!" Clara couldn't contain herself anymore. She couldn't imagine that the Time Lord's would be so cruel as to strike such a deal with these creatures. "That's not true!"

"Human, you know nothing of Time Lord's, I would advise you to keep your mouth shut," Stor ordered. "We too, were slightly surprised they agreed, but they were trying to avoid a war with us. Also, your Lord President Borusa is a most corrupt being. He wants power, and that is what we offered him."

"You, making a deal with the Time Lord's?" The Doctor scoffed. "That's proposterous, even for Borusa."

"It is true. But of course, the Time Lord's were too stupid to realise that we were going to betray them," Stor sneered. "We are not going to simply lock you up, keep you here on exile like a petty criminal! We are going to use you, use your regeneration energy to power our forces so that we will win every war! Our first will be against the Time Lord's, I think even you Doctor would agree they deserve to be slaughtered at this point."

"You can't do that!" The Doctor exclaimed. "You'll still lose soldiers, my regeneration energy will keep you strong for a few centuries but what happens after that? You'll die! And it will all have been for nothing!"

"That's why we selected another one of your incarnations, the most recent one. With the two of you, we will double the power, we will be invincible!"

"Where's the glory in that!" The Doctor cried. "It's cheating!"

"The machine is not ready yet," Commander Stor turned to another Sontaran, ignoring the outraged Doctor. "Lock them up."

"Wait!" The Doctor began. "You-"

"There's no chance of escape, Time Lord," Stor sneered. "Thirty minutes and this machine will be fit for purpose, with or without your future self. The ledge outside will crumble and succumb to our power source and your strategically placed Tardis will fall, burning into ashes. Your ship will perish, as will your home planet."

The Doctor and Clara were pushed and marched out of the room into another dark tunnel. They walked in tangible silence until they reached a rusty metal door, outlined in dark wood. The Sontaran guards flung the door open and shoved the Doctor inside roughly.

"Here's your human, Time Lord," One sneered, pushing Clara into the room after him forcefully.

The Doctor moved to catch her before she could hit the hard ground, wrapping his arms around her securely. She buried her head in his chest as the door slammed shut behind them, relieved to be away from the grasp of the Sontarans and back in his arms. She clung to him, not wanting to ever have to let go.

"Doctor, they're not going to hurt you are they?" She asked fearfully, hate for the Time Lord's rising in her. How could they be so stupid as to trust the corrupt Sontarans? "They can't do this!"

"Brave heart, Clara," He murmured against her hair. "It'll be alright. We're both going to be fine."

Clara pulled back slightly to look at him. His hair had become slightly disheveled in the dispute. She smiled lightly, reaching up to push some of his hair back from his face. "Have you got a plan then, Spaceboy?"

"Well," He grinned. "My plan is usually, to pretend I have a plan, then follow it through and hope it works out."

Clara sighed with a small smile. "I suppose it could be worse."

"Hey! It always works for me," The Doctor feigned mock hurt, making Clara chuckle. A dark thought crossed her mind.

"Doctor, the Tardis-"

"Don't worry, Clara," The Doctor reached out to touch her face gently, slowly running his fingers down her cheek. Clara felt her stomach flutter and had to remember to breathe as her breath caught in her throat. "The Tardis will be fine. We'll be fine. I got us into this mess, I'll get us out of it."

Clara smiled and nodded. She averted her gaze to look around the small cramped room. It was cold and empty, except for the large shadow in the corner of the room she hadn't noticed as they'd come in that caught her eye now. She blinked at it disbelievingly, a feeling of dread beginning to pool in her stomach as she realised what it was.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, noting her sudden change in demeanor and following her gaze to the corner of the room.

"Oh my giddy aunt."

A lone Dalek was standing in the corner of the room, and it knew that they were there.

**Cliffhangerrrr :D Hope you guys liked that chapter, please review it'd make my day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Suppose I should just put out there that I don't own Doctor Who, don't own any of the characters blah de blaaah... I'm extremely lazy so I'll probably only say it once =)) Thank you Zarius for the review and thanks to anyone else reading the story, I'm glad that at least one person is enjoying it :) Chapter four aaay!**

"Doctor," Clara uttered fearfully, keeping her voice low so as not to draw attention to themselves. "I think we've got a problem."

"Yes, yes I see that," The Doctor mumbled. "Get behind me, Clara."

He took hold of Clara's arm, pulling her behind him and shielding her with his body. She knew she should feel safer but couldn't help feeling terrified that the Doctor was now completely exposed and unarmed.

"Doctor, that thing will kill you!" She exclaimed, trying to keep her voice quiet and attempting to move out from behind him instead of cowering away.

"No, it won't," He stated grimly, putting an arm out to stop her. "The Sonataran's want me alive, if this creature is going to kill anyone it will kill you, you're not needed."

"Should I feel insulted?" Clara scoffed indignantly at the Time Lord's insensitive remark, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

He smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry, Oswald, I don't mean it like that. You're just as important as me, I promise you."

Clara managed a weak laugh. She was glad the room was dimly lit so the Doctor coudn't see the light blush that began to spread across her cheeks. "If this situation wasn't possibly life threatening, I'd take that as a compliment."

The Doctor's brief smile was quickly replaced with a wary frown as the Dalek began to stir. "Oh dear," He muttered, backing away, forcing Clara to retreat aswell. "It's waking up!"

"Daleks can sleep?" Clara hissed in disbelief, fear running through her veins at the mechanical hum the monster was beginning to make.

"Well, not sleep exactly," The Doctor began to make exuberant hand gestures as he attempted to explain frantically. "They can shut down half their systems temporarily, a form of resting, if you will. It's not usual behaviour for them, but I'll bet my hat this one's been held prisoner here for a very long time."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Spaceboy, but I don't think we have much time before it fully wakes up," Clara tightened her grip on his arm in fear as she looked at the Dalek that was now beginning to move. The Doctor raised his eyebrows and grimaced.

"Well, you're not wrong."

"Seek..." The Dalek croaked, it's eye stalk beginning to move stiffly as if it hadn't changed position for a millenia. "Locate... Anihalate!"

The Doctor rushed to the door, pulling out his sonic and scanning the edges frantically. He turned around quickly, waving the screwdriver in the air in annoyance.

"Wood!" He cried, throwing the device across the room in his tantrum. "The idiotic potatoes outlined the door with wood!"

Clara shook her head in disbelief, stifling a laugh at the refrence to the potato-like aliens. "You create a device that can be specifically used to open locked doors and it doesn't work on wood? Ninety percent of common doors are made of wood!"

"Doors on Earth!" The Doctor cried defensively. "And anyway, any room concealed behind a wooden door is usually not worth entering."

The Dalek had full awoken from it's slumber, starting to move slowly. It pulled against the chains that Clara had only just noticed were keeping it in place. Somehow she didn't expect they would hold it for long.

"The Doctor!" It screeched aggressively in recognition. "The renegade Time Lord and his human companion!"

"Yes, I know who we are!" The Doctor yelled, almost hopping up and down on the spot in irritation at the situation. Clara would have found the scene almost comical had it not been potentially life threatening.

"The human will die!" The Dalek stated threateningly, struggling to break free of the chains that bound it to the wall.

Clara felt frozen to the spot, paralysed by fear.

"Oh!" The Doctor exclaimed suddenly, clapping his hands together. "That's it!"

"What's what?!" Clara gasped frantically, eyes fixed on the Dalek which was nearly free of his retraints.

"My sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor yelled in outrage, momentarily forgetting about the Dalek. "I've lost it! Who stole it?!"

Clara raced to the floor where he had thrown it and picked it up, throwing it to the eccentric Time Lord who caught it with a grateful grin. "Thought you might be needing it," She winked.

"Marvellous!" He exclaimed, rushing over to her and dropping to the ground, pulling her down with him. She let out a surprised squeak as she hit the floor lightly. He pulled them back into the shadows slightly, holding her close to him.

"Listen to me, Clara, and do exactly as I say," His voice dropped to a whisper, his breath against Clara's ear, causing her heart to speed up. She flinched as the Dalek gained enough energy to break free of it's chains at last and began to move away from the far wall steadily. The Doctor continued talking quickly in a hushed whisper. "The Dalek should still be adjusting to the light in here. Give it a few seconds and it will be able to see clearly, so we have to move fast. Now, I'm going to do something extremely stupid and possibly fatal, but you must stay here."

Clara opened her mouth to protest but the Doctor clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her.

"Shhh don't interrupt," He scolded quietly. "I'm going to- Clara!"

He let out a yelp as Clara licked his hand, causing him to withdraw his hand from her mouth in surprise.

"What the-"

"Shut up!" She whispered hurriedly, looking into his eyes firmly. "Let's get something straight, Time Lord. I'm not letting you put your life in danger!"

"You stay here until I say so, that's an order, Ozzy. I'll be fine, I promise," The Doctor touched her cheek briefly, ignoring her objection and hopping up from where they were crouched in the corner. Clara watched nervously as the Time Lord strolled briskly across the small, cramped room and stopped in front of the Dalek, his back to the door.

"Hello," He smiled cheerily, clasping his hands together in front of him. "Are you here to kill me?"

"You are compatible for the experiment. You must be kept alive," The Dalek stated flatly in it's piercing electronical voice. "The human will be disposed of."

"Now, now let's not be hasty," The Doctor shook his head, waving a hand at the Dalek. "Why kill her when you could kill me? Come on, I know you want me dead more than anyone, I know I'm special."

The Dalek paused. Clara held her breath, fighting the urge to run to the Doctor's aid. She now realised what he had meant when he said he was going to do something stupid. The most idiotic thing you could do was aggravate a Dalek.

"You are needed for the Sontaran's experiment," It croaked. "You must be contained."

"Yes, well that's wonderful but why do you care what the Sontarans want?" The Doctor took a step closer. "Why don't you just kill me? Go on, I know you want to!"

"Your talking will cease!" The Dalek screeched. "Daleks do not tolerate unwanted conversation!"

"Well what better way to shut me up than to exterminate me?" The Doctor questioned. He spread his arms wide and grinned like the madman he was. "I'm no expert but I don't think the dead can talk. So go on, exterminate me!"

"You will be destroyed," The Dalek stated aggressively, finally giving in to the Doctor's jibes. Clara leapt to her feet despite the Doctor's warning, her heart in her throat.

"Exterminate!" The Dalek screeched. The Doctor dropped to the ground quickly just as a ray of lethal electricity from the Dalek's weapon flew over his head and cascaded against the metal door, blowing it to pieces. The Doctor winked at a wide eyed Clara from his position on the ground and rolled to the side, out of harms way. He hopped to his feet, rushing over to Clara as she ran to meet him halfway.

"The Doctor must be destroyed! The Doctor must be destroyed!"

"Don't you ever scare me like that again," Clara spoke breathlessly, holding the Doctor's face between her palms. He grinned at her.

"Now for part two of my plan."

"You actually have a plan for once?" Clara laughed, following the Doctor as he ran behind the Dalek.

"Yes, and it's mad and it's dangerous and it probably won't work!"

Clara watched in disbelief as the Doctor began to push the unsuspecting Dalek from behind, propelling it out of the door and into the corridor outside. Clara joined him with a grin and placed her hands on the cool metal of the Dalek, helping the Doctor to push it down the alley.

"Under attack! Under attack!" It cried in outrage with a loud robotic scream. "The Doctor must be destroyed!"

"Watch out!" The Doctor warned as the Dalek shot blindly.

"Doctor, what the hell are we doing?" Clara cried breathlessly, the Dalek being heavier than she had expected. They had nearly reached the end of the dark tunnel and Clara could now see the door in front of them that led to the main room they had been in before. The room full of dangerous Sontaran's that they seemed to be about to run straight into.

"I'm going to open that door," The Doctor huffed with the exertion of pushing the metal alien. "And I want you to push the Dalek through. Then when I say duck, duck."

Before Clara could question the Doctor's sanity, he had left her side and rushed to the door surprisingly fast, brandishing his sonic screwdriver at it and flinging it open. He threw himself to the side as Clara let out a shout of determination, pushing against the Dalek with all her might and propelling it through the open door. The Doctor appeared beside her to help push it the rest of the way through, making the weight of the huge robotic alien a lot easier to move. He gave a grunt as he heaved with all his strength against the Dalek, putting a spin on it's final push as they entered the room after it.

"Duck!" He yelled and Clara did as she was told, dropping to the ground beside the Time Lord and raising her head slightly to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

"Under attack! Under attack!" The Dalek began shooting wildly as it spun, it's deadly rays rebouding off the walls and causing outrage and confusion amoungst the Sontarans.

"Doctor!" Commander Stor's roar of rage echoed throughout the room, causing the Doctor to laugh gleefully. "Ignorant Time Lord!"

"Let's not hang around," Thhe Doctor yelled, grabbing Clara's hand and running across the room to the exit, keeping close to the ground. The Sontaran's were distracted by the Dalek which was threatening their Time Lord machinery as it spun out of control.

"Stop spinning, metal contraption!" Clara heard a Sontaran demand aggressively. "Face me in battle!"

Clara shot a quick glance behind her. The Dalek was now unintentially causing damage to the huge machine in the centre of the room. Clara caught sight of a large electronic timer on the far wall, which was now counting down from five minutes. The Doctor had spotted it too, and had a look of dread on his face. She realised this must be the amount of time they had left before the machinery was ready, before the Tardis fell into the pit.

"Kill it!" Stor screeched, raising his gun at the robot. "Destroy it! End it's petty existence immediately!"

The Sontarans turned their guns on the confused Dalek and opened, giving the Doctor and Clara enough time to make it to the door.

"Not so fast, Doctor!" Stor roared, rounding his gun on the Time Lord and his companion.

"Sorry," He responded with a smile, his head poking out from behind the door. "Must dash."

They ran down the short tunnel into the room they had first entered as they came in the main door. Clara had never run so fast in her life, and she did a lot of running with the Doctor around. They escaped through the main door they had come into, running out into the dark, misty haze of the desolate planet.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see the outside of this place!" Clara gasped breathlessly as they stopped for a moment, holding onto the Doctor's arm to steady herself.

The Doctor let out a loud guffaw and embraced her briefly. He let go of her suddenly, jumping back with an expression of realisation and horror on his face.

"The Tardis!" He yelled, taking off towards the distant ship at a sprint. "We have three minutes!"

Adrenaline pushed Clara on as she took off after the Doctor, running as fast as she possibly could, each breath burning in her chest. She was mentally counting down the seconds in her head, giving an inaccurate but close enough idea of how long they had left. They reached the Tardis with less than a minute to go. The Doctor started across the narrow ledge hastily, his foot slipping every now and again in his hurry and causing Clara to nearly have a heart attack. She breathed a sighed of relief when he made it to the door, opening it and stepping safely inside.

Clara began across the ledge, trying to speed up her pace without falling. It was easier this time, with adrenaline coursing through her and she soon reached the Doctor's outstretched hand as he pulled her the rest of the way across and into the safety of the Tardis. The door shut behind her with a loud bang as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank God!" She exclaimed wearily, trying to catch her breath.

"We're not safe yet!" The Doctor cried, rushing around the console and pushing random buttons and lever at a speed Clara had never witnessed before.

"How do you know what to do with them all?" She asked in awe, staring at the console which made no sense to her whatsoever.

"I don't!" The Doctor yelled frantically. "Not at the moment. Right now I'm pressing random buttons and hoping we don't die."

"You don't know how to fly your own ship?" Clara cried fearfully, running over to see if there was something she could do to help.

"Don't be proposterous!" The Doctor laughed. "I know how to fly my ship, it's just... More complicated this time. The Sonataran's have a hold on it, preventing me from flying."

Clara yelped as the Tardis began to lurch as if falling and started to slowly sway to the side.

"I don't think we have much time!" She yelled in warning.

"You're right," The Doctor had his hand to his lips thoughtfully. A look of steely determination suddenly set in his eyes as he began bounding energetically around the console once more. "Of course!" He yelled gleefully as if coming to a sudden realisation. "If I can reverse the thingymabob, and switch the hydro-thing with the spacey... Stuff..." He trailed off as he worked, leaving Clara feeling baffled. Her bemusment was soon replaced by fear as she felt the ground beneath the Tardis finally give way and they began to fall down into the abyss below.

"Whatever timey wimey thing you're doing, Doctor, I suggest you hurry it up!" Clara cried, clinging onto the console for dear life as they dropped.

"Nearly finished!" He yelled frantically, waving his hands around as he tried to keep the ship under control. "Clara grab that lever! No, not that one, the one that's blue but not quite blue! No the... Yes, yes that's the one! Pull it down now!"

Having located the right lever, Clara pulled it down, not expecting it to be so stiff but not about to let go either. The engine in the centre of the console began to move with a low hum, indicating that they were beginning to take flight.

"Oh, thank Rassilon that worked!" The Doctor cried excitedly as they flew away from the iminent death that falling into the Sontaran pit would bring. "Splendid job, Clara!"

Clara managed a weak laugh, sinking to the ground and letting out a huge sigh of relief. They were safe, for now. But for how long?

**Hope you liked that one guys, I'd love love LOVEE if you reviewed 'cause I love hearing what you have to say about the story :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five noww :D Just wanna put it out there that I love reading these Doctor Who fanfics especially ones with Classic Who in them so if you've got a story you want me to read, just tell me and I'll be happy to read and review it :) Thanks again for the reviews Zarius! It really means a lot :) Hope you guys enjoy this, I'm really enjoying writing it :) Some classic whouffle fluff in this chapter ;;)**

Clara watched from her comfortable position on the Tardis floor as the Doctor slowed to a more relaxed pace, steering the Tardis out of harm's way. She sat gazing at him intently, chin propped up under her hand with a small smile. He made her smile. She felt her heart flutter slightly as she watched him. She blinked, wondering why she was feeling like this. She shook her head adamantly to shake the thoughts away and looked to the Time Lord again. She was transfixed as he flew the complicated ship, full of knowledge no human could even comprehend. He seemed so right, him and his ship. The Tardis was most definitely his home, and Clara was immensly glad that she could partake in this adventure with this Doctor. She already felt very close to him.

She was grateful that this journey was a lot less bumpy than the one's they had been experiencing so far, and she could actually walk around the control room without stumbling into a wall. She almost wouldn't have noticed that they had landed had it not been for the Doctor's sudden accomplished grin. He clapped his hands together happily.

"Abydos!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, leaning back against the console and twirling his recorder in his hands as he often did, looking pleased with himself. Clara folded her arms and cocked her head to the side in confuasion at the sudden outburst.

"You what?"

"Abydos!" He repeated with a proud smile. "A small planet in a desolate part of the universe that many ignore, simply because it's so tiny and insignificant. It's been largely unhabited for centuries."

With no further explanation he brought the recorder to his lips and began playing a sweet melody as he leaned casually against the console.

"Why're we here?" Clara gave the Tardis doors a questioning glance. Were they going to go out there? "What's the point of coming to a planet where there's no life?"

"We're hiding," The Doctor waggled his eyebrows happily, pocketing his recorder again. "You see, the Sonataran's aren't going to give up on finding us that easily, oh no. Their machine and resources may have been damaged by the Dalek, setting them back a good bit, but they won't give up. It's not in their nature. They're going to come looking for us, who knows, they might even decide to involve the Time Lord's if they have trouble locating us. They're not really known for their intelligence."

Clara frowned in confusion. "But if they're going to start looking for us... Wouldn't it make more sense to _not_ stay in one place?"

"Ah, yes, well, that's the problem," The Doctor wrung his hands together sheepishly. "I had to use emergency energy stored deep in the Tardis core when I flew us out of that abyss." He made exuberent hand gestures as he struggled to explain the situation. Clara found it quite adorable. "You see, now that we've landed, the Tardis engines are dead."

"Dead?" Clara asked worriedly.

"Dead!"

More wild hand movements aided the Doctor in his speech. "We're stuck here for a while until the Tardis recharges. But not to worry!" He smiled cheerily, clasping his hands together in front of him. "We've landed somewhere completely safe! I highly doubt the Sontarans will find us here."

Clara rolled her eyes with an amused smile. "Are you even capable of explaining something without the use of your hands?"

"Yes!" The Doctor exclaimed indignantly, his hands flapping about defensively. He paused. "No."

Clara laughed, causing the Doctor to smile. "So," She raised an eyebrow and patted the Tardis console lightly. "How long are we stuck here then?"

"Oh, could be a few days, could be less," The Doctor bounded away from the console and began to remove a slate of plating from the floor, revealing the underside of the Tardis. "It all depends on this!"

He leaned down, plucking a small glowing capsule from amoungst the wires. It resembled a minature rock, smaller than Clara's palm and didn't look particularly special.

"What's so special about that then?"

"It's- Ow!"

Clara couldn't contain her laughter as the Doctor bumped his head on the plating above him as he resurfaced from under the Tardis console. Clara patted him on the shoulder affectionately and moved closer to get a better look at the object.

"It's our power source," The Doctor continued, rubbing his head absentmindedly. "It's very old and very small, so it will take a while to charge up but with just a little bit of help," He held the rock between his palms and Clara watched in awe as he breathed lightly on it, golden wisps of energy coming out of his mouth and being absorbed into the rock which now glowed bright green. The Doctor grinned. "It can clock up enough energy to power this whole Tardis, given the time."

Wow," Clara breathed in awe, not knowing what else to say.

"I know."

The Doctor hopped up and began to bustle around the console again, glowing green rock in hand.

"So what now?" Clara asked curiously as he worked.

"Now we wait," The Doctor smiled at her briefly. "This won't power the whole Tardis yet, it hasn't got enough energy for that, but at least she's not dead anymore. I have to attach this to some wires so it will be connected to the Tardis when it starts working, shouldn't take me long."

Clara nodded silently, wondering what to do with herself while the Doctor did his complicated Time Lord stuff. She had a sudden brainwave.

"Where's the kitchen?" She asked, a slow smile beginning to form on her face.

The Doctor looked at her, bemused. "Keep going down that corridor, turn left, second door on your right."

"Great!" She exclaimed happily, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek lightly, leaving him slightly surprised. She skipped away in the direction he had told her with a spring in her step. She knew _exactly_ what she wanted to do.

She replayed his words in her head, following the directions keenly to make sure she didn't get lost. She wasn't sure how this Tardis would react to her, but judging by the mutual hatred she shared with the future version of the ship, she figured she wouldn't get along well with this one either.

"No funny stuff, alright?" She muttered warningly as she turned the corner. "Don't you dare go making rooms disappear or making me fall into a swimming pool or something! I want to find the bloody kitchen!"

The Tardis hummed, in agreement or retaliation Clara wasn't sure, but she was grateful when she opened the second door on the right and found what was most definitely a kitchen waiting for her.

"Alright, that's new," She grinned. "We're actually getting along for once!"

She got to work immediately, unable to keep the smile off her face. It had been too long since she'd been baking. She opened cupboards and drawers, finding the ingredients easily enough. She let out a content sigh. All the ingredients needed to make the perfect souffle. And this time, for the first time, she was determined to get it right.

She lost track of time as she worked, whisking ingredients together and making a complete and utter mess of the kitchen. She heard the ding of the oven as she was mixing the next batch, ready to try again as she was almost certain this one wouldn't work out. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of burning souffle, her suspicions unfortunately being proved right.

"Oh no!" She cried, rushing over to the oven where smoke was billowing out and flinging it open in a futile attempt to save the souffle. She sighed, her face falling into a downcast expression as she pouted at the burnt souffle in her hands. A low hum came from the Tardis around her.

"Oi!" She exclaimed indignantly. "Are you laughing at me?"

The Tardis whirred mockingly. Clara was certain it was laughing at her expense.

"You only let me find the kitchen so you could have a good old laugh at me, didn't you?" Clara brandished her whisk at nobody in particular as the Tardis hummed once again. "Well, I'll show you! I'll make the perfect souffle, just you wait and see!"

"Where's the fire?!"

Clara jumped at the alarmed cry as the Doctor rushed into the kitchen, brandishing his sonic screwdriver. Clara doubled up laughing.

"Doctor, how did you expect to put out a fire with a screwdriver?"

The Doctor straightened up indignantly. "Don't underestimate it! It's an all rounder, this one."

Clara laughed again, highly doubting that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver would ever be capable of extinguishing a flame.

"What's going on here then?" The Doctor's face held an expression of sheer horror as he gazed around the room. "Has there been an explosion?"

"Of sorts, yes," Clara pouted, tossing the burnt souffle to the side. "Doctor, your stupid telephone box was laughing at me!"

"Why, because you can't cook?" The Doctor grinned, mirth in his eyes as he struggled to contain a laugh at the scene around him.

"Oi!" Clara yelled indignantly, tossing a handful of flour at him which he dodged just in time with a loud laugh. "I'll get there, alright? It's time for perfect souffle, take two!"

She opened the oven with her foot, swishing the smoke away with one hand as she put the next uncooked souffle mixture in.

"Now," She traightened up, giving the Doctor a grin. "You can help me make souffle number three."

"You're making another one?" He asked incredulously.

"For back up," Clara clarified. "Just in case this one doesn't work out, which it will!"

The Doctor laughed at her determination and joined her and the group of ingredients.

"I can't cook," He stated plainly.

"Neither can I, perfect team!" Clara exclaimed, shoving a bowl of butter and flour at him. "Now mix!"

The Time Lord did as he was told, Clara running around and collecting extra ingredients. She looked up from where she was whisking the eggs as she heard the Doctor's light laughter.

"What?" She attempted to sound defensive but ended up smiling. The Doctor's smile was contagious and make her feel light inside.

"You're covered in flour," The Doctor grinned as Clara's cheeks suddenly flushed red with embarrassment. She hadn't realised what a mess she must look. She caught sight of her reflection in the silver kettle on the counter beside her, giving a start when she saw herself. Her hair was scraped back into a messy pont tail, tendrils hanging out here and there, and her clothes were covered in flour. She hurriedly wiped flour off her burning cheeks, attempting to look some bit decent in front of the Doctor.

"Here, let me," The Doctor smiled, moving to stand in front of her. He promptly placed a smear of flour onto her nose, causing her to blink in surprise. He laughed loudly, smearing some more onto her cheeks before she could move away.

"By Rassilon!" He exclaimed between laughs as Clara swatted at his hand. "You need to get a tan, Clara!"

"Hey!" Clara yelled, having a hard time standing upright she was laughing so hard, realising she must look like a snowman. "You're not getting away that easily, Mister!"

She chased him around the kitchen as he ran away like a school boy who'd just been caught breaking the rules. She grabbed his arm, laughing as she covered his face in flour. He shook his head to rid himself of the powder as Clara chuckled at the sight.

The Doctor's smile softened as he met Clara's eyes and she felt her heart rate speed up. She felt frozen to the spot as she lost herself in his deep blue eyes. Her hand hovered in the air from when she had been about to attack him with another splatter of flour and slowly came to rest on his chest. She could feel one of his two hearts beating steadily under her palm.

Her breath caught in her throat as the Doctor reached up a hand to gently brush her hair away from her face, tucking a strand that had come loose back behind her ear. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his and he didn't seem to be able to loook away either.

The two jumped at the sudden ding of the oven and leapt apart. Clara let out a shaky laugh as the Doctor cleared his throat nervously.

"Oh," Clara chuckled, attempting to brush off what had just happened and trying not to wonder when the Doctor's smile had started to make her stomach flutter like this. "Souffle number two!"

She crouched down beside the oven, feeling hopeful about the fact that she couldn't smell burning.

"I think this one's the one!" She grinned as she took it out of the oven.

"Well there's no smoke this time, that's surely a promising sign," The Doctor grinned like a small child at Christmas. "Come on then, let's see!"

Clara glanced at the souffle in her hands warily and placed it on the table.

"Better put souffle number three in, just in case," She muttered, setting the oven timer again, this time changing the settings slightly.

Clara and the Doctor looked at each other, then back to the souffle on the table.

"Well..." The Doctor began cautiously. "It's not burnt."

Clara looked harder at the souffle. It was pale, almost too pale, and slightly flat. She wasn't sure what to make of it.

"No, it's definitley not," She mumbled, biting her lip as she considered whether it was safe to eat or not. It didn't seem like the perfect souffle, but still, maybe she had got it right this time.

She ran to the drawer and pulled out two forks, handing one to the Doctor with a hopeful smile. He took it enthusiastically and dug into the souffle, taking the first bite. Clara watched his face, hoping for good news.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he spat out the souffle, flinging the fork across the room just for good measure.

"Are you trying to poison me?!" He cried.

"That bad?" Clara moaned.

"Yes, my dear, I'm sorry but it was terrible!" The Doctor flapped his hands about in distress. "Don't taste it, don't touch it, don't even go near it!"

He grabbed the plate with the remaining souffle still on it and ran to the kitchen door, flinging it open. He threw the souffle out into the corridor with force.

"And stay out!" He yelled, horror still marring his features. Clara winced at the clattering of the plate and sighed. She'd never make the perfect souffle at this rate.

She turned to check the oven, attempting to peer in through the dark window. She could barely make out the soffle baking inside, but it seemed to be the right size. She looked up at the Doctor with another hopeful grin.

"This could be the one, Doc!" She squealed excitedly.

The Doctor's face fell. "Oh no," He shook his head vigorously. "Oh no no no! Leave it, Clara! Leave it to burn!"

Clara ignored his lack of support and decided to open the oven. She held her breath in anticipation as she took the souffle out. A slow smile spread over her face as she gazed at it, studying it carefully. The Doctor moved to stand behind her and peered over her shoulder at it. He let out a sigh of relief. The souffle looked good, no it looked more than good, it looked perfect. It was the perfect souffle, Clara was sure of it. It was the perfect shade of golden brown, was just the right size and Clara could tell it was going to taste great. She grinned, almost hopping on the spot with excitment.

"This is it, Doctor!" She cried. "The perfect souffle! You and me, we made this one together, we did it!"

"Are you... Are you sure?" The Doctor still looked dubious and was fixing the souffle with a mistrustful glare.

Clara plopped the souffle down onto a plate and handed the Doctor a fork.

"Positive," She nodded happily, unable to keep the smile off her face.

The Doctor took the fork from her but made no move to taste the souffle, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You really expect me to taste it first?"

Clara rolled her eyes with a smile. "Oh, alright then, watch," She took a forkful of the souffle and popped it into her mouth. She hopped up and down in delight as she realised that this was most definitely the perfect souffle. It tasted amazing, the consistency was fluffy and light and absolutely perfect.

The Doctor shrugged and relented, taking a forkful of the souffle and bringing it to his lips. He paused, looking at Clara cautiously, still not quite believing that it was edible after the last time. Clara grinned at him encouragingly and he sighed, taking a bite of the souffle.

Clara watched with bated breath as the Doctor chewed slowly. His eyes widened slightly and he smiled.

"This is good," He began slowly with a small nod. His expression brightened. "This is really good."

"It's perfect isn't it?" Clara yelled excitedly. "The perfect souffle!"

"The perfect souffle," The Doctor agreed happily. He smiled brightly at her. "Souffle girl."

Clara grinned, sitting down beside him as the two enjoyed the impossible, perfect souffle.

**I enjoyed writing that chapter :D Kinda want to make a souffle now... hmm =)) Anyway, hope you liked that one, I'm working up to some romance ;;) Classic whouffle :D I love the Doctor and Clara pairing, no matter what regeneration :D**

**Any constructive criticism is always welcome, reviews make my day! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Moving on to chapter six, once again I don't own Doctor Who, don't own the characters, all I own is the plot for this story. Hope you guys are enjoying it and thanks so much to those who've reviewed, it really makes my day!**

Clara relaxed into the plush armchair, feeling content and full of souffle. She was glad she had discovered this room, and more glad that the Tardis had allowed her to find it in the first place. It was small and cosy, complete with assorted armchairs and couches and a intricately designed fireplace in the corner, which she assumed when lit would give the room a warm orange glow to match the gold and red theme.

She had retrieved a book from the small bookshelf against the far wall of the room, not sure what the novel was about but drawn in the the beautiful picture of a foreign planet on the cover. She peeked at the inside cover of the book, intrigued to see that there was writing there. It looked to be a bunch of gibberish to Clara, but it appeared pretty and enticing, an array of beautifully written symbols and foreign words that Clara guessed must have been written by the Doctor. She wondered if it was Gallifreyan and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

The renegade Time Lord had gone to check on the power source to try and estimate how long it would be before they were up and running again so Clara had decided to take the chance to relax. It had been an extremely long day, she wasn't even sure what time it was. Was there even an aspect of time in the Tardis? _Probably not,_ she figured, opening her book and deciding she would fall asleep whenever she felt exhausted enough.

"No!"

Clara jumped at the outraged cry, looking up from her newly opened book as the Doctor burst into the room looking flustered and promptly began tearing the place apart. Clara dropped her book in surprise at the disheveled appearance of the angry Time Lord.

"I leave you alone for five minutes," She chuckled, shaking her head lightly. "What's wrong?"

"It's gone! Gone I tell you!" The Doctor cried, flapping his hands about in distress. "It's been stolen!"

"What has?" Clara yelped, dodging a cushion the Doctor had just thrown across the room in his adamant search, narrowly missing her head.

"My recorder!" He yelled, crouching down on all fours as he checked for it under the couch. Clara sighed. All this over an instrument?

"It'll turn up, Doctor," She laughed. "Here, I'll help."

"Wonderful!" He exclaimed happily, patting her on the back lightly in his sudden enthusiasm. "Thank you, Clara. Alright, I've checked nearly everywhere except for this room. If this is the Tardis' doing I swear I'll-"

He began muttering what sounded to Clara like a string of profanities in Gallifreyan, causing her to laugh as they continued their search, though his words earned an angry whine from the ship. They tore the room apart, overturning armchairs, throwing books off the bookcase and checking down the back of the couch.

"Doctor!" Clara laughed with a roll of her eyes. "_Why_ would it be _in_ the fireplace?"

"_Why_ are you questioning me and not continuing looking for my recorder?" The Doctor retaliated, pulling his head out of the fireplace and looking around himself. He sighed, seemingly giving up and sitting down on the floor with a soft thud, looking downcast with an annoyed pout.

Clara's eyes widened as she spotted something protruding from his jacket when he sat down.

She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle as the Doctor looked up at her defensively.

"What?" He questioned with a scowl. "What is it?"

"You clever boy," Clara grinned, much to the bemusment of the Time Lord. "Have you checked your pockets, Doctor?" Clara laughed, watching with glee as the Time Lord's jaw dropped. His hand flew to his pocket and he froze for a second, eyes widening in shock. He slowly pulled out his recorder, a look of disbelief on his face.

Clara couldn't control her laughter at the Time Lord's stupidity and the adorable look of confusion on his face. The Doctor straightened up with a frown, clearing his throat with embarrassment.

"Planted there, obviously," He stated indignantly. "Someone trying to frame me. It wasn't there before, I'm telling you!"

Clara wiped a tear from her eye as she laughed.

"Oh, Doctor," She sighed with a grin, tapping the side of her head with a wink. "See, sometimes humans are just that little bit smarter than Time Lords."

The Doctor struggled to maintain his frown but couldn't help breaking out into a grin. He gave the recorder a quick toot and smiled at Clara, rushing over and embracing her in a hug.

"Thank you, Clara," She could hear the chuckle in his voice as she hugged him back. "Only you would have thought to look there, impossible. My impossible girl."

Clara closed her eyes in contentment and relaxed into his embrace, smiling at his words. She enjoyed being close to him like this. She pulled back to look at him.

"If only I was that helpful when we're in dangerous situations," She smiled jokingly but there was truth in her words. She hated to admit it, but she felt useless sometimes. Watching the Doctor fly the Tardis so expertly made her worry that if and when he requested her to do something, she'd let him down. She already had, almost. She wondered briefly if all his companions felt like this at some point and thought it probable that they would. "Back when we escaped from the Sontarans all I could manage to do was pull a lever and I nearly did that wrong! We could've died."

"But we didn't," The Doctor's eyes turned serious but gentle as he looked at Clara. He frowned slightly at her words. "You don't really think you're useless do you, Clara? You've helped me in ways even I don't fully understand."

Clara blushed slightly at his words. "I just wish that I could be a bit more of a help sometimes, that's all," She shrugged. "Your Tardis thinks so too, I can tell."

"My Tardis doesn't know everything," The Doctor winked, gaining an indignant hum from the ship. His eyes brightened suddenly and he grinned mischieviusly. "Come along, impossible girl," He grabbed her hand and ran from the room, pulling her with him. "You helped me find my recorder, now I'm going to return the favour. I'm going to give you a lesson in flying my Tardis!"

Clara felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest as the Doctor led her down the twisting corridors towards the control room. She held onto his hand tightly, enjoying the contact. She felt excited and nervous at the same time. Flying the Tardis was something she had always wanted to master, but she knew how complictaed it was. That, teamed with the fact that the Tardis_ hated_ her, didn't make for a very promising plan.

She tried not to feel intimidated as they entered the control room and looked at the console again. It was slightly more basic than the one she knew from the future, but she was sure it would be just as hard to manouver.

The Doctor pulled her over to the console gently and let go of her hand. She didn't want to admit it to herself but she missed the contact as soon as he let go, it left her feeling incomplete. She shook the thoughts away and concentrated on the daunting console in front of her.

"How's this going to work, Doc?" She asked with a questioning glance at the Time Lord who was gazing at one of the scanners. "I thought we didn't have enough energy to fly it."

"It's charging up, we don't have enough to travel in time or space, but we have enough to lift off from the ground, fly around this perfectly splendid planet," The Doctor grinned excitedly. "Good practise, it's the same thing only a tad less dangerous. And by dangerous I mean _"The Sonatarns will find us and we will more than likely die" _dangerous. But not to worry!" He clasped his hands together in front of him with a warm smile at Clara's slightly striken expression. "We're avoiding all that. Thing's should run smoothly. Just don't crash into anything."

"I'll try my best, Captain," Clara gave a mock salute, her fear at flying to ship beginning to diminish. She could do this, she'd show that cocky Tardis.

"That lever there," The Doctor gestured to part of the console in front of Clara. "That's the handbrake."

"Funny looking handbrake," Clara grinned. "So do I just pull it up or what?"

"Are you mad?" The Doctor looked horrified. "No, no you have to press these two at the same time, pull that up and then reach around here..."

Clara's brain went into overdrive as the Doctor began talking rapidly, using terms she didn't understand. She struggled to keep up, trying to ignore the fact that the Tardis was probably laughing at her.

"Right," She muttered, poking her tongue out between her teeth as she struggled to multitask. She huffed in annoyance. "Doctor, this one's broken!"

"Oh, no it's not broken," The Doctor stated cheerily. "Just a bit stiff."

He picked up a hammer from under the console and hit the controls with it a few times much to Clara's shock and amusement.

"That should do it," He smiled proudly, giving it one last whack and tossing the hammer into a corner of the room.

Clara laughed, trying to remember which buttons to press. The Doctor took one of her hands, moving it to rest on the correct lever. She twisted a dial and gasped as the ship began to move.

"Doctor," She cried, frozen in shock but feeling slightly proud of herself. "Am I doing it? I am!"

"You're flying it, Clara!" The Doctor confirmed happily, patting her head affectionately. She let out a victorious whoop, feeling accomplished and quite enjoying the feel of the Doctor's left hand resting on her lower back.

"You're doing well, just... No, not that one!"

"Oops," Clara winced with a laugh as the Tardis bumped into something solid. The Doctor left her side as she struggled to pilot the ship. She liked the feeling independence and couldn't help grinning. She was flying the Tardis! How many humans got to do something like that?

"Remember what I told you," The Doctor yelled from the oppisite side of the console, gripping it tightly as the ship swerved again. "If you think you're going to crash, you press those four buttons in sequence, one two three four!"

"One two three four, got it," Clara grinned, pulling down another lever. They weren't crashing yet, she was ok. The Tardis gave a quick lurch. The Doctor gave her a worried glance and reached for the controls.

"No, I've got this!" Clara assured him adamantly. She was determined to manage this by herself. He rolled his eyes at her, putting his hands up in surrender but immediately regretting it when the Tardis lurched again and he nearly lost his balance.

"Remember what I told you! One-"

"I know!" Clara yelled urgently, pressing the buttons frantically. "One two three-"

She slipped as she made to press the fourth button, ending up pressing a fifth in her hurry. She flinched as she pressed a sixth unintentionally, hoping it wouldn't do too much damage. The Tardis dropped rapidly, crashing off what felt like a solid brick wall.

The Doctor ran over to her, pushing her out of the way slightly and taking over the controls quickly. The Tardis began to regain balance again and Clara gave a nervous chuckle, biting her lip, slightly ashamed but having too much fun to care.

The Doctor closed his eyes and held his hands to his head with a defeated sigh. "Clara, remind me to give you a lesson in counting."

"Oi!" Clara swatted the mocking Time Lord's arm lightly, moving back to the controls. "It could've been worse."

"Yes, well, you're not doing bad for your first time," the Doctor moved to stand close behind her, reaching around her and taking her hand again to place it gently on the correct controls. Clara's heart hammered in her chest at the close proximity and she was finding it hard to focus on what he was saying. Her breath caught in her throat every time he moved her hand to help her along when she did something wrong and she hoped he didn't notice.

She smiled as she realised she was flying the ship without anymore casualties. Sure, the Doctor was helping her but still, he was only helping. And though she hated to admit it to herself, she didn't really want him to move from where he was standing close behind her, almost pressed up against her back at this point.

"I think it's time we land," The Doctor's breath brushed Clara's cheek lightly as he spoke, his face close to hers almost resting on her shoulder. "Don't want to use up too much power."

"Ok, I've got this part," Clara grinned, taking hold of a shiny metal lever and pulling it down, sliding a red bar across simutaneously. She let out a squeal of glee when the ship came to a gentle stop.

"Smooth landing!" The Doctor cried estatically, moved away from the console. "That's never happened before."

"What can I say, I'm talented," Clara winked playfully, earning a laugh from the Time Lord.

"Indeed," He smiled. "No bones broken, I have to say I'm delighted with your progress, Miss Oswald."

"I have to say I am too," Clara linked her arm through his with a grin as they walked down the hall, leaving the control room behind them. They reached the room before Clara even realised where they were going, the room where the lost recorder incident had taken place.

The Doctor removed himself from her hold and went to sit down on the couch, taking out his recorder and beginning to play a tune Clara didn't recognise.

She sat down in the armchair across from him, feeling worn out but enjoying the calming music. _Definitely not an Earth tune,_ she decided as she listened to the lilting song quietly. She picked up her forgotten book from earlier and decided to take the chance to rifle through it's pages. She soon realised that nearly all the words were in a language unknown to her, most likely Gallifreyan. She couldn't understand a word of it, but the symbols were so beautiful she couldn't put the book down. She looked up at the Doctor suddenly at his change in song.

"Twinkle twinkle little star?" She raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile.

"A delightful tune," The Doctor winked, finishing the song and putting down his recorder. Clara got up from where she was sitting and plopped herself down on the couch beside the Doctor. A sudden thought occured to her.

"Where are your companions, Doctor?" She questioned curiously. "Don't you usually travel with others?"

The Doctor sighed heavily, a forlorn look crossing his features. "They left. I suppose they all do, in the end. They all had lives to get back to, Jamie, Zoe, Victoria... They were all very dear friends of mine."

"I'm sorry," Clara whispered, realising that this was a tough subject for any incarnation of the Doctor to talk about. She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. He smiled gratefully in return. "Do you miss them?"

"Oh, of course, I miss all my past companions," The Doctor shrugged. "But life depends on change and renewal, it goes on."

Clara nodded, the words on of the wise Gallifreyan turning over in her head. It made a lot of sense, if she hadn't decided to change her average Earth lifestyle and travel with the Doctor, she would never have experienced all the amazing things she had encountered. Sometimes, change was a good thing.

"I'm glad I've got you," The Doctor continued quietly, giving her hand a small squeeze as he stared off into the distance thoughtfully. "I don't like being alone. You've made things better, a lot better."

Clara smiled at his words, unable to keep the blush from rushing to her cheeks. She cursed inwardly. She didn't usually blush this much. "I'm glad I'm here too," She replied truthfully, looking down at their intertwined hands. "I don't think I've ever had so much fun."

"Well, I'm glad you consider being on the run from a race of warrior aliens fun," The Doctor grinned, lightening the mood.

"You know what I mean," Clara laughed. She picked up the book from beside her. "This book, is it written in Gallifreyan?"

"Ah yes," The Doctor removed his hand from hers in his haste and took it from her excitedly, flicking through the pages. "I haven't seen this for years. Robbed it from the library at the academy."

Clara laughed. "Some things never change then," She gave the Tardis a suggestive glance.

The Doctor grinned lightly at her comment. Clara turned her attention to the book again.

"It's written in Old High Gallifreyan, the ancient language of the Time Lord's," The Doctor explained thoughtfully. "Not many can understand it."

"But you do?"

"I do."

"What's it about then?"

"Myths and legends mostly," The Doctor shrugged. "It says a lot about The Dark Time, a time where much of Gallifreyan culture was dominated by magic."

"Magic?" Clara asked in disbelief, a small amount of awe entering her voice.

"Or so they say," The Doctor scrunched up his face in slight disregard, giving another shrug.

"I don't suppose Google Translate would work on it then?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing," Clara laughed at the Doctor's horrifed expression. "Futuristic computer talk," She winked jokingly, feeling proud that she knew something the Doctor didn't, even if it was probably too insignificant for him to even consider.

"I hate computers and refuse to be bullied by them," The Doctor straightened his bowtie adamantly with a scowl.

"Me too," Clara agreed fervently. "Especially when you can't connect to the wifi."

The Doctor scoffed and muttered something along the lines of, _"bloody futuristic computers," _as Clara picked up the book again, studying the cover carefully.

"Will you take me to Gallifrey some day, Doctor?" She asked quietly. "I bet it's beautiful."

"I will, Clara, I promise," He paused. "Just as long as I'm not still on the run from them."

Clara chuckled, leaning her head on his shoulder, feeling a wave of tiredness wash over her as the events of the day began to catch up with her. "Why did you run away in the first place then?"

"I was bored," Clara felt the Doctor shrug. "The Time Lord's wanted to live this proper way with all their power and I... Didn't. I just wanted to travel. I mean look at the universe! Look how much there is to explore!"

Clara gave a yawn. "I know what you mean," She agreed with a small nod. "But... There's nothing wrong with that. What do they have against that?"

"Well," The Doctor began somewhat sheepishly. "I do tend to... Get involved with things a bit."

"You can say that again," Clara laughed, fighting the urge to close her heavy eyelids.

The Doctor turned his head slgihtly to look down at her, slumped against his side. "You're tired, Clara. You should get some sleep."

"S'what I'm doing," She mumbled, drowsyness beginning to take over.

"But don't you want to lie down in a bed?"

" 'm fine here, thanks," She murmured, closing her eyes and snuggling in closer to him. She felt him heave a sigh as he relented, putting an arm around her gently.

Clara suddenly didn't want to sleep, she had never felt more content than she did in that moment. She felt safe now, and she wasn't sure when she'd get that priviledge again, considering they were on top of the Sontarans hit list. But she felt herself begin to lose conciousness as the Doctor started absentmindedly tracing gentle circles on her shoulder and found she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She fell asleep, the last thought in her head being that she was happy.

**Fluffy chapter theree =)) Hope ye enjoyed it! Please leave any feedback or constructive criticism, or even just tell me how you're liking the story :)**

**Did anyone notice the couple of classic who quotes I threw in there? ;;)**

**Oh and someone said Clara was out of character, sorry about that I'll try fix it :P So if I'm not doing the characters as I should, please give me advice on how to improve :) Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven is uppp! I'm so glad some of you are enjoying this story, it really means a lot cause I love writing it! It's just so fun making the characters come to life in the story, and I hope it makes you smile! Enjoy anyway, feel free to leave any constructive criticism or just tell me what you think about the story! Love you guyyssss :)**

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The first thing Clara noted when she gradually began to feel herself wake from her slumber was that the Doctor's arm was still around her shoulders and she had somehow repositioned herself during the night so that she was practically lying on top of him. Slight surprise registered in her briefly. She had almost expected him to leave her as soon as she fell asleep. She couldn't even bring herself to feel embarrassed about being almost sprawled across him, still being too tired to do anything about it and being content exactly where she was.

The next thing she realised, with a sudden start which almost caused her mouth to drop open in surprise was the deep, heavy breathing coming from the motionless Time Lord. She felt her eyes widen with shock involuntarily as she realised the Doctor was _asleep_.

She smiled to herself softly, she almost didn't dare breathe lest she woke him. The Doctor always insisted that he didn't need sleep and she had rarely discovered him taking a well needed rest. She sometimes had to send him to his room as if he was a little boy staying up too late playing his computer games, just to make sure he at least took a nap. Not that that happened often, he was unbelievably stubborn.

She remembered the future version of the Doctor she had accompanied in his travels with a faint smile. She missed him, but something about being with this incarnation of the Doctor felt right. And the fact that they were the same person did not go amiss in Clara's mind. She had come to care about this Doctor a great deal, almost more than the future regeneration. She blinked in confusion at herself, wondering when she had started feeling like this. She cast her mind back to the predicament they were experiencing with the Doctor's missing future self. She hoped number Eleven was ok, knowing she would do anything she had to in order to save the Doctor.

She smiled to herself at the sound of the Doctor's relaxed breathing, indicating that he was still sound asleep. Reluctant to move from her comfortable position nestled in the Doctor's embrace but too curious to let an opportunity such as this go amiss, she gently attempted to lift her head up without prising herself from his grasp. She held her breath as she moved agonisingly slowly, not wanting to wake him up. She craned her neck to look at his face and couldn't hold back a grin. He looked so peaceful, the lines on his face smoothed out into a worry-free expression, his chest rising and falling with each relaxed breath. She had never seen him look so peaceful, she realised. She gently rested her head on his chest again, moving quietly in case she caused him to wake up. She decided he needed the rest, not that he'd ever admit to it. She wondered briefly if he dreamed, and if so, what did he dream about? It was a topic she decided she would bring up with him some day.

She almost felt herself dropping off to sleep again when a huge bang shook the Tardis, causing the entire ship to tremble.

"What!" The Doctor leapt up from the couch unexpectedly, almost causing Clara to fall had she not rolled off him quick enough. The Doctor stumbled a bit, looking dazed from just waking up.

"Clara," He squinted at her, the fatigue beginning to drift away from obscuring his vision and wobbled a bit almost as if he was drunk. "Have you been baking souffles again?"

"Wasn't me this time, Doctor," Clara jumped up, almost instantly regretting it as the Tardis gave another lurch, causing her to topple over again.

"It seems like we have a problem then," The Doctor rushed from the room, miraculously recovered from his exhaustion.

Clara hurried after him, running her hand along the wall fro support as she went in an attempt to keep her balance. The Tardis swayed from side to side almost as if a giant hand had plucked it from the ground and was carrying it nonchalantly through the air as if it was a handbag.

The two stumbled into the control room, glancing around for the source of the predicament.

"Doctor, the Tardis engines aren't running," Clara noted with sickening dread. "How're we moving?"

"I haven't the slightest idea!" The Doctor exclaimed, running to the console and studying it intently. "The power's still not working, we shouldn't be moving at all!"

His expression darkened as if hit by a daunting realisation. "Unless..." He muttered, bounding over to the doors and putting his hand on them cautiously as if not sure whether to open them or not. Clara held her breath in anticipation as he slowly opened them a crack, peeking out. He slammed them shut almost immediately, turning around and pressing his back up against the doors with an expression of horror on his face.

"Oh my giddy aunt!" He cried breathlessly. "That wasn't part of the plan."

"Since when do you ever have a plan?" Clara hurried over to him, looking to the doors expectantly. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "What's out there? Let me see."

The Doctor held a finger to his lips as a sign that she should keep quiet and opened the doors just the tiniest bit, moving aside to let her see.

Clara covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. She was right, they _were_ being carried. Only it wasn't by a giant hand, but by many, average sized hands. The creatures were large, reptilian humanoids with appeared to be up to seven feet tall. Clara shuddered at the sight of their faces, flat, scaly with large black eyes that she didn't fancy looking into unless absolutely necessary. They had picked up the Tardis and were carrying it with minimum effort across the vast, unearthly barren landscape outside.

She pulled away from the doors as the Doctor closed them again, a slightly guilty look on his face.

"You said this planet was uninhabited!" She hissed, pointing an accusing finger at the Time Lord.

"Yes, well maybe I got the time zones mixed up a bit," The Doctor wrung his hand together as he did when he felt guilty about something. "In my defense, I didn't know this was going to happen!"

Clara sighed in frustration. "So we've been captured by the lizard natives of some 'uninhabited' planet while on the run from a race of vicious potato warriors, all during the one time the ship is conveniently broken?"

"Well technically the Tardis is always broken, I mean the navigation system's knackered and the chameleon circuit has been broken for Rassilon know how long-"

"Doctor-"

"I mean do you think I wanted it to look like a police box? No, it was meant to blend in-"

"Doctor!" Clara tried again, interrupting the rambling Time Lord. "What are those things?"

"Ice Warriors," The Doctor stated gravely, his expression darkening as memories resurfaced. "Only these one's seem to have evolved slightly, they're not supposed to be on this planet for one thing. They originate from Mars, for Rassilon's sake!"

"So we're dealing with Martians then?" Clara giggled in spite of herself. She had always expected Martians to be little green aliens with huge heads and three eyes. The grin slipped off her face as she had a sudden thought. "Oi! Ice _Warriors_? How many bloody warriors do we attract, Dr. Trouble?!"

"Well, quite a number of them it seems," The Doctor shrugged with a slight frown. He froze as the Tardis dropped slightly with a small thud, becoming still.

Clara opened her mouth to say something but the Doctor held up a hand to silence her. "Keep your voice down!" He warned, pressing his ear up against the door and straining to hear the hushed voices that were coming from the other side. Clara listened intently, but couldn't make out what they were saying through the thick wood. The low mumble died down, and silence ensued. The Doctor and Clara looked at each other, then back to the door. The Time Lord slowly pulled the door opened a crack, gritting his teeth together in annoyance as he saw the view outside.

Clara peered over his shoulder. The small room they were in seemed to be empty aside from the Ice Warrior in front of the Tardis, blocking their exit and seemingly guarding the ship. He had his back to them, but Clara could see that here was armed. There was no getting past him, at least not without some casualties.

"We have to find a way past him," The Doctor muttered, closing the door over again so as not to be heard by the alien. "This is unusual behaviour for Ice Warriors, something's not right..."

"And you just have to investigate any sign of trouble, don't you, Danger Magnet?" Clara grinned, earning an amused smirk from the Doctor. She was feeling slightly excited at the prospect of exploring a new world, the danger element only spurring her on. "D'you think this could have something to do with the Sontarans?"

The Doctor paused, his hand resting over his mouth in thought. "On a wider scale, yes it is a possibility," He muttered darkly. "They have been known to negotiate terms of war together before, although the Sontarans usually fight alone. But as we know, they also make deals with other races and later betray them." The Doctor looked at her knowingly.

"You think that's what's going on here?" Clara whispered back, eyes wide.

"Well it would explain a great deal. Only one way to find out, as they say," The Doctor grinned, pulling the door ajar again. "Now, how to get past him..." He murmured, frowning in thought.

As the Doctor pondered over different senarios of how to outsmart the guard, Clara was busy doing some thinking of her own. She couldn't see how they could negotiate their way out of this one. She looked around the Tardis desperately, willing something to give her inspiration. The only coherent thought in her mind was to get herself and the Doctor out of this safely before the renegade Time Lord did something stupid. Her gaze fell on a large vase sitting on a table in the corner of the room, seemingly unharmed by the impact of their landing.

"That wasn't there before," Clara muttered curiously, walking over to the vase and picking it up.

"Sonic electric current maybe- Hm?" The Doctor paused in his musings to ponder Clara's quiet exclamation. Clara crouched down beside him again as he went back to his thoughts, vase in hand. She had a feeling the Tardis actually wanted to help her out for once.

"If I could generate enough heat from the level of sonic intensity to distract it mayb-"

Clara cut off the Doctor's words, opening the door fully and stepping out fiercely. She smashed the vase down over the Ice Warriors head before it could even turn around. It dropped to the floor, unconcious, leaving Clara feeling quite proud of herself. She turned back to the Doctor, giving him a cheeky grin.

"Or we could just smash it over the head with a vase," The Doctor continued his speech jokingly, eyes widened in surprise at her unexpected actions.

"Sorry, Doctor. It seemed like the only way."

"Well I suppose he's still alive," The Doctor shrugged as he glanced down at the motionless alien that was breathing lightly. He shot Clara a grin and grabbed her hand, leading her across the room and out of the door. "Impossible, you are. Come along, Clara!"

Clara noticed the immense temperature drop the second they left the room and started down the dark corridor, the walls lined with an icy sheen. She tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand, looking around for any signs of other Ice Warriors. They stopped in front of a looming metal door.

"Ok, Clara," The Doctor smiled lightly, dropping her hand. "Just don't act stupid."

Clara had to stop herself from uttering an indigant retaliation as the Doctor flung open the door and stalked into the room briskly.

"How dare you!" He roared at the unsuspecting aliens which all turned around simutaneously in his sudden presence. They seemed to be in some sort of high-tech laboratory. Clara looked around, trying to look casual in spite of the Doctor's sudden angry behaviour, pleased at least that he seemed to have a plan. Everything was more exciting when the Doctor had a plan, since his plans were nearly always insane. There was machinery everywhere, scanners and panels and large dash boards with multiple buttons and levers all being operated by the Ice Warriors, who had all ceased in their work to glare at the Doctor in shock.

"How _dare_ you!" The Doctor yelled again in a more aggressive tone, taking large strides for a man his size as he strode up to what looked to be the Ice Warrior in charge of the whole operation.

"Who are you?" The alien hissed in surprise, baring sharp ugly fangs and revealing a thin, green tongue that flicked suspiciously when it spoke. It reminded Clara of an overgrown snake. "How did you get in?"

"Disgraceful!" The Doctor cried, stamping the floor with irritation. He turned to Clara, an expression of rage mixed with disbelief on his face. Clara struggled not to appear too confused. "Do you hear this, Clara? They don't even know who we are!"

He turned back to the aliens who were all staring at him suspiciously, a confused hum echoing throughout the room.

"And now they've stopped working! As if you can afford to stop," He scoffed angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the reptilian closest to them. "Look at you! All relaxed! Disgraceful, isn't it, Clara? Absolutely, _disgraceful._"

Clara nodded fervently, forcing a frown onto her face. "Disgraceful," She agreed, trying to sound convincing as she improvised. "I'm disappointed in you! You should... Be ashamed of yourselves! What would your mothers think?"

The Doctor gave her a look at her last comment, giving the impression that he was having a hard time resisting raising a sarcastic eyebrow. Clara fought back a grin, imagining that if he could talk freely to her he would probably say something along the lines of, _"I thought I told you not to act stupid."_

"And I bet they still don't know who we are!" The Doctor continued with a growl, glaring at the head Ice Warrior who was beginning to look slightly concerned, if that were even possible. "Doctor John Smith, head of the Galactic Ministry of Space Electronics and Health and Safety. Were you not expecting us?!"

Clara resisted the urge to shake her head in amusment, one hundred percent sure that the Doctor had made up the over the top, flashy title on the spot.

"Prove to me that you are who you say!" The alien hissed aggressively.

"Oh my _word!"_ The Doctor yelled, almost hopping up and down on the spot in anger. "First you give us a hostile welcome, then you question our credentials!"

"We ought to report you to the Galactic... Police!" Clara improvised with a determined scowl, attempting to help the Doctor in his quest to make them believe that they were indeed Galactic officials. "It's not like we don't know who you work for!"

The Ice Warrior scowled bitterly at Clara, giving her a hostile glare. "What do you know?"

Clara opened her mouth and closed it again, realising she'd dug her own grave there. She looked to the Doctor for assistance.

"Sonatarans!" The Time Lord exclaimed, saving her from being found out. He gave the aliens a challenging glare. Clara snuck him a glance, realising that he was making a wild assumption and hoping it was right.

The Ice Warrior's eyes bulged in shock or some other emotion that Clara wasn't sure of. "My... Apologies," It voiced in it's snake like hiss, backing away slightly and bowing. "I was not aware..."

"Too right you weren't!" The Doctor folded his arms and scowled. "Now, I'd like to be shown around the place, thank you very much! Don't make me report you!"

"Of course," The snake-like creature hissed, nodding at two other alien workers who leapt up from their positions and approached hastily. "Show them what they want to see."

"Excellent!" The Doctor clapped his hands together brightly and strode off ahead of the Ice Warriors, Clara at his side. A sliding door opened to reveal a set of passageways with numerous doors leading off at either side.

The Doctor skipped ahead, ignoring the Ice Warriors who were supposed to be showing them around and opening a door to inspect the contents. The room was like the first, except slightly smaller and the Doctor didn't give it much of his time.

"I think we'll take it from here," The Time Lord nodded briskly at the imposing aliens. "Go make yourselves look busy."

The Ice Warriors exchanged a quick look then bowed and walked away slowly. Clara stayed close to the Doctor.

"Well, I suppose you were right about them working with the Sontarans," Clara muttered once they were out of earshot.

"More likely working _for,_" The Doctor frowned, examining another door. "We have to be quick, find out what's going on before they start to get suspicious. Those two will be back, I'm sure of it. Ice Warriors are extremely untrusting."

"And untrustworthy in turn I'll bet," Clara mumbled, already taking a strong disliking to the aliens.

The Doctor tried another door, giving it a quick tug and finding it locked. He grinned at Clara.

"Locked... Looks promising, don't you think?" He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the edges of the door quickly, the locks opening with a small click.

"Oh my word," The Doctor muttered, aghast as he inspected the room they had just walked into. Clara gasped in horror.

A row of several metal beds were arranged in a semi circle around the room. What looked to be a motionless human was lying on each one, half covered by a sheet of fabric that on closer inspection, appeared to have been crafted out of woven metal. Clara rushed over to the nearest one.

"Are they dead?" She asked in concern, studying the face of the man. He didn't look to be breathing. A metal earpiece was attached to his ear, a blinking red light winking at Clara.

"I'm afraid so," The Doctor muttered. "But they're being used for something... Something sinister no doubt. This device is keeping a part of them alive," He gestured to the metal earpiece. "But not for much longer."

"Can't we do something to save them?" Clara whispered, realising that she was fighting back tears.

"I'm sorry," The Doctor murmured, taking her hand and giving it a small squeeze as they left the room. "It's too late for them. But I promise you, we'll stop this before anyone else gets hurt."

Clara nodded, trusting the Doctor. He let go of her hand as soon as they reached the corridor, giving a quick glance around to make sure they weren't being watched and sealing the door again.

He did so just in time, as the two Ice Warriors from before came marching towards them just as the Doctor had predicted.

"Aha! Just the two I wanted to see," The Doctor grinned, clasping his hands together. "Now I suggest you show me around this wonderful place. Inspect some... Safety mumbojumbo and such."

The Ice Warrior paused. "As you wish," It stated in an expressionless tone, walking forwards, each reptilian alien standing either side of the Doctor.

"Yes, I'd prefer if you explained to me a bit about this operation you're running," The Doctor ordered sternly, beginning to walk off, flanked by the two aliens who seemed all but oblivious to Clara's presence. She wondered if they were of the sexist sort, opening her mouth to make an objectionary comment at their discriminative treatment of her. Huge ugly aliens or not, she refused to be treated any differently than the Time Lord. The Doctor turned his head slightly to glance at her as he talked, giving her a suggestive look, raising his eyebrows multiple times. He gave a loud, overly exaggerated cough, giving the two oblivious aliens a quick nod and a hurried apology, then glancing at Clara again. Clara frowned at him, and mouthed a puzzled "what" back at him.

"It's nothing personal, I'm sure you're environment here is _safe_," The Doctor continued, putting emphasis on the word safe. He was walking slowly backwards down the hall away from Clara so that he was facing her and facing the Ice Warriors at the same time, although the aliens were not aware of that. He threw more suggestive glances at Clara. "It's just all part of the job, _investigating_ this for the Health and er.. Safety board. You know what it's like with jobs, I know what I'm doing, you know _what you're doing._"

The Doctor gave Clara a quick wink, turning away and strolling down the corridor, continuing his mainly one sided conversation with the Ice Warriors. The obscure clues began to form together and it suddenly clicked in Clara's mind what the Doctor wanted her to do. She grinned with a sense of excitement, ducking behind the wall out of sight of the aliens and choosing a different path, ready to see if she could find out something about what was going on. She knew they didn't have much time, the Ice Warriors would surely start to get suspicious.

She walked down the corridors at a quick pace, hoping she wouldn't run into anyone. She wished the Doctor had given her his pyschic paper or something for prove of identification. Did this early incarnation of the Time Lord even have psychic paper in this timeline? She wasn't completely certain. She peeked in a few of the rooms on her way, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Big equipment she didn't understand, that was nothing new. She was used to that with the Tardis, although she had a better idea of how it worked after the Doctor's lesson.

She came to a large, sleek, industrialised metal door which looked more promising than the others she had tried previously.

"Wonder what you're hiding..." She muttered curiously, giving the door a small push. She frowned, putting more pressure on it and sighing when it still didn't budge. Locked. She gave an annoyed huff, stopping short when she heard footsteps and hushed voices coming down the hallway towards her. Not sure if she should allow herself to be seen like the Doctor did or stay hidden, she decided to choose the latter.

She whipped her head around, searching desperately for a hiding place as the footsteps came nearer. She skipped to the opposite side of the corridor and crouched down behind a jumble of assorted machinery. It gave off an unsettling hum, but Clara stayed put, straining to here what the aliens were saying.

"-Don't know if they are who they say they are," One Ice Warrior was hissing to his comerade as they stopped outside the door Clara had been unable to open. "This was supposed to be top secret! How did they find out?"

"Who they are and why they are here is not our primary concern," The other hissed venomously, placing his clawed hand on the top right hand corner of the door, a place Clara was far too small to have reached. She gave a low gasp of ashtonishment when the door slid open from ground to ceiling in response to the reptilian's touch. The lizard creature continued talking. "The main objective we have to focus on is getting this finished before the Sontarans make contact. We have to hurry."

The pair of aliens entered the room, hissing amoungst themselves. Clara made a mental note to tell the Doctor everything she had heard. She hopped up from her hiding place and ran as quietly as was humanly possible over to the door and rolled under just before it closed, determined to find out as much as she could about what these Ice Warriors were up to.

She scrambled behind one of the large machines before she could be seen, taking a good look around the room. She let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

"Now _this_ is more like it," She muttered under her breath with a small smile. The room was filled with odd looking equipment, flashing lights and more levers and buttons than the Tardis console. It was much more impressive than the previous rooms she had investigated by far.

"How are the humans faring?"

"Stable conditions," Came the expressionless reply. "They will be converted as soon as possible. The machines are not fully functioning yet."

Clara clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her horrifed gasp at the images that popped up on the screens in front of the Ice Warriors. Humans converted to metal. Cybermen. Those humans were going to be converted into cybermen.

What did the Sonatarans want with cybermen? Did they want to broaden their army? None of this was making sense. She had only encountered cybermen once before and was not willing to again. She backed away instinctively, giving a startled gasp as her back hit off on of the machines, causing something to clatter to the floor.

"What was that?" One of the Ice Warriors hissed in outrage, spinning around and glaring across the room with it's bulging black eyes. Clara cringed at it's snake-like voice, it's words sending a shiver down her spine.

She almost didn't dare to breath. The Ice Warrior approached her hiding place slowly, resembling a snake as it hunted it's prey. Clara held her breath so as not to make a sound, crawling across the floor as she tried to keep out of sight and keep away from the lizard creatures simultaneously.

She looked around desperately for somewhere else to hide. Somewhere she wouldn't be discovered. Her eyes fell upon what looked to be an open metal cupboard, tall and looming, it stood in the middle of the far wall. She didn't want to leave this soon, she wanted more information and right now this cupboard thing looked like the perfect hiding place.

She kept close to the ground, coming as close to the metal door as she could. She picked up a crowbar nearby here and tossed it into the middle of the floor, as far away from her as possible. She had to resist the urge to chuck it at one of the hateful lizard creatures flat heads.

"What's going on?!" Came the suspicious hiss as the two Ice Warriors turned to inspect the fallen object. Clara took her chance, reveling in their distraction and ran to the small opening, pulling the heavy industralised door across and leaving it slightly ajar. She held her breath and balled her hands up into fists, hoping she hadn't been seen.

There was an intense pause from outside. Clara gathered her courage and peeked out through the crack in the door.

"We don't have the time for this," One of the Ice Warriors turned back to the control panel. "Get back to work!"

Clara leaned back against the cool metal wall behind her, breathing a sigh of relief. She felt claustrophobic in the small, almost enclosed space, but she was in the perfect place to gain information from these lizard aliens. She peered outside the door again, making sure she wasn't spotted.

The Ice Warriors had ceased talking and Clara was beginning to feel fed up. She was contemplating just stepping out there and confronting them, not feeling in the least bit scared of them. They weren't armed, and if worst came to worst the Doctor would save her, she was sure of it. That taken into consideration, she still knew she could fight her own battles.

She pressed her hand up against the door, prepared to exit the cramped contraption and give the scaly aliens a piece of her mind when one of the Ice Warriors began to speak.

"The machinery appears to be ninety eight percent complete. I will innitiate the test run."

Clara gave a small shriek as the door unexpectedly slammed fully shut, causing her to jump back, her back pressing up against the wall. She grasped at the wall frantically, pushing with all her strength, but to no avail. Her breath came in short gasps as fear washed over her at the sickening realisation that the metal cupboard she was inside was not harmless storage space. She was inside the Ice Warriors' machine. And they were turning it on.

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**Cliffhangerrrr ;;) hope you liked that one, feel free to review I'd really appreciate it, it makes me smile :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**So glad you're liking this story, I'm loving writing it :D Everything starts to fall into place soon;;) Here's chapter eight anyway, hope you enjoy it!**

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"Doctor!" Clara screamed, the word scraping past her throat with the effort it took for her voice to not fail into an indescipherable rasp, the terror wrapping around her vocal cords with an iron grasp. What was this machine? She was _not_ going to be converted into a walking metal machine. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps as she struggled not to panic. She hammered on the door, out of breath with the exertion from pushing against it and willing it to open.

She gave the sonorous metal a hard kick before letting out a frustrated groan. She leaned her head against the cool, shiny surface, scrunching up her face in an attempt to keep the tears at bay.

"Doctor," She whispered, thinking of the man she wanted and needed more than anyone. The most amazing, wonderful man she knew, the man she would do anything for. This Doctor, this second incarnation of him was different to her than any other. He was _her_ Doctor, and she needed him right now. She cursed inwardly at the turn of events. She had rushed out here to help him, put herself in this position to help him, and now she was the damsel in distress.

"Let me out!" She yelled, hammering on the metal again with her fists, unknowing as to whether the Ice Warriors couldn't hear her or if they were just choosing to ignore her. Once she got out of this, she'd show those damn lizards what she thought of them. She gritted her teeth as her temper flared, mixed with her fear of what was to come. "Open this door!"

She screamed in shock mingled with horror as she was suddenly flung back against the wall behind her with force.

"No," She rasped, panic overtaking her as she realised she was unable to move, fastened to the wall as if by some powerful magnetic force. An unsettling whirring sound began to emit from the machine. She let out another cry. "Doctor!"

"What have you done with my companion?"

Clara felt hope ignite in her heart at the faint sound of the Doctor's voice from outside the machine. This time, he wasn't putting on the anger that seeped through into his tone.

"Clara?" The Doctor yelled, concern lacing his tone. "Where is she!"

"We do not know what you mean," Clara heard the hiss of an Ice Warrior replying to the angry Time Lord. "We are doing our job."

"If there's one thing you shouldn't do, it's make me angry," The Doctor's tone had turned threatening. "Clara? Are you here?"

"Doctor," Clara tried, her voice coming out as a faint, rasping whisper. Smoke was beginning to curl in small whisps in the corners of the box-like machine and the air was becoming thick. "Doctor!" She tried again, adamantly making her voice stronger this time.

"Clara!"

She heard a knock from the other side of the metal door that was trapping her inside. A faint buzz from his sonic screwdriver could be heard. She could almost swear she heard him curse in annoyance, and would have laughed had she been in better circumstances.

"Don't worry, Clara, I'll get you out of there," The Doctor's voice became fainter as he walked further away from her.

"You'd want to hurry up, Doctor!" She called, struggling to make her voice be heard. Without warning, shiny, spiked utensils protruded from the upper half of the machine, approaching her at a slow, menacing pace. Clara screamed, struggling to remove herself from the wall but to no avail.

"Turn off the machine!"

Clara heard a scuffle from the room outside as the Doctor struggled against the Ice Warriors. Clara looked up above her. The sharp objects were coming closer to her, causing her to squirm. She closed her eyes as traitor tears began to fall, wishing for safety and her Doctor.

"Alright," The Doctor sounded slightly out of breath. "If you won't cooperate..."

A shrill, high pitched noise filled the air, causing Clara to want to cover her ears, though she couldn't move her arms. She squeezed her eyes shut as if futiley wishing it would shut out the sound.

The noise ceased after a few seconds and the strong metal door swung open with a hiss. Clara felt the invisible restraints gluing her to the wall release her as she caught sight of the Doctor rushing away from the controls that the Ice Warriors had been occupying earlier. He raced over to her and caught her in his arms just as she stumbled over the threshold of the machine, relieved to be out.

She let out a strangled sob as he enveloped her in his arms, holding her close to him.

"Shhh, Clara, it's ok," He hushed her, resting his head on hers affectionately. "You're safe now."

"I-," Clara coughed, choking on the sudden pure air that was entering her lungs, a huge contrast to the thick fog she had been breathing in moments earlier. "I didn't enjoy that much, Doctor."

The Doctor chuckled lightly as he stroked her hair comfortingly. "No, I don't expect you did."

Clara clutched herself closer to him, breathing him in, unwilling to let go. Of course, she knew she had to. The danger hadn't passed yet. The Doctor pulled back to look at her, brushing his thumb across her cheek gently to wipe away the few tears that had spilled over.

"You're safe now, Clara. My Clara," The Doctor pressed his lips to her forehead, causing Clara's heart to leap and her stomach to explode with butterflies. She couldn't be falling for him, could she? No, no no no... She pushed the thougths to the back of her mind, knowing that now was not the time. The Doctor released her only to take her hand in his instead, a feeling that Clara enjoyed immensely.

She cast her curious gaze to the two Ice Warriors currently lying unconcious on the ground and gave the Doctor a questioning look.

"They wouldn't let me near the controls," The Doctor shrugged. "I didn't see any other option. Sonic and a high frequency setting on a mahcine like this don't make for a very pleasant sound when put together, especially not to reptilian humanoids. But remember, Clara," He looked at her in a mockingly stern way, raising a finger at her warningly as if worried he'd set a bad example. "Violence is not the answer. Come on, let's go before they wake up."

Clara grinned, her fear from earlier ebbing away in the Doctor's presence as they left the room hastily and started down the corridor.

"Doctor," She gasped suddenly as she remembered a vital point, looking up at him as they went. "Cybermen! They're converting them into Cybermen!"

"I know," The Doctor muttered gravely. "That's why we have to get out of here now."

"Wait!" Clara tugged on his hand, pulling him back slightly as they passed the door with the captive humans. She knew he had said it was too late for them but she stilled hoped there was at least a slim chance of salvation for them. She had witnessed first hand what they would be going through and no one deserved that. She shuddered at the fresh memory. She looked at the Doctor pleadingly, fighting tears once again. "Please, Doctor... Isn't there anything we can do?"

"I'm sorry, Clara," The Doctor's expression was kind and apologetic. He kissed her forehead again softly and pulled back to look into her eyes. "I'm so sorry but it's too late for them. There's nothing we can do."

This time when he began to pull her along, Clara obliged, accepting that there was nothing that could be done as she wiped away a few stray tears with her free hand.

"Those poor people," She murmured quietly.

"I know," The Doctor caressed the back of her hand gently with his thumb almost absentmindedly as they walked at a brisk pace back the way they had come.

All eyes were on them as they entered the control room full of Ice Warriors, who were fixing them with beady glares.

"Traitors!" One Ice Warrior raged. "Give us back what is ours!"

Clara grasped the Doctor's hand tighter as it approached, puzzled. What had they taken? She looked to the Doctor, who was wearing a slightly sheepish expression and shifting from foot to foot guiltily. He started to back away slowly inch by inch, pulling Clara with him.

"Sorry, did you mean this?" He held up what appeared to be a small fragment of metal. Clara gazed at it, guessing that it must have once been part of a circular structure but was now missing it's other half. "I thought I might keep it, it's rather pretty don't you think, Clara?"

"Enough!" The vicious reptiles' tongue flicked in irritation as it stalked closer.

"What, don't you think it's pretty?"

"Cease your talking and return what is rightfully ours!"

The Doctor and Clara continued edging backwards gradually. Clara wondered how they were going to get out of this one, she didn't have a vase on her at the moment.

She jumped slightly as she felt the Doctor's hand slip inside her pocket, giving him a questioning glance but he wasn't looking at her, continuing to stare directly ahead. She reached inside her pocket carefully, feeling around and closing her fingers around the small object that had been put there. She sneeked a glance at it, catching a glimpse of the shining metal. The Tardis key.

But what was she supposed to do with it? She looked to the Doctor desperately for some sort of clue but he had left her side and was practically dancing around the room, keeping the small metal object out of reach of the Ice Warrior that was coming ever closer and becoming more and more aggitated.

"Oh, silly me!" He cried in fake annoyance as his sonic screwdriver slipped out of his pocket. A seemingly clumsy but actually well timed kick of his shoe sent the screwdriver whizzing over to where Clara was standing. She grinned, picking it up immediately.

"You will be terminated," Came an angry hiss at the time Lord's actions.

"Oh, I don't think it's me you have to worry about," The Doctor stated cheerfully as the Ice Warrior and himself circled each other ominously. Clara held the sonic device to the Tardis key and pressed the button, causing a buzz to emit from the screwdriver. She grinned as the key began to glow bright gold. The Doctor beamed knowingly. "It's the women you have to worry about."

The soft whoosh of the Tardis materialising grew louder and Clara turned around to face the machine behind her. The Doctor backed away more quickly this time, reaching Clara's side and turning around the open the door. He gave an over exaggerated gesture of "Ladies first" as Clara smirked and gave a small bow and strolled into the Tardis with an accomplished beam.

"No!" A strangled hiss from the band of reptilian creatures hit them as they ran towards them.

"Finders keepers," The Doctor grinned, jumping into the Tardis and slamming the doors behind them.

"Great timing for the Tardis to get it's power back," Clara grinned.

She tossed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver to him as he passed on his way to the console which he caught, giving her a nod and pocketing it. He began tapping coordinates into the console as Clara gave the Tardis an affectionate pat.

"Thanks for helping me out for once," She cooed at the ship which gave a low rumble in response, one that wasn't as haughty as usual. Clara laughed. "That's good enough for me."

She turned her face up to meet the Doctor's and winked, grabbing a lever. "This one, eh?"

"Go for it, Clara Oswald," The Doctor grinned happily as Clara pulled the lever and they set off through time and space.

"Where are we going?" Clara yelled over the whoosh of the engines. She gave a small _"oomph" _sound as the Tardis landed with a slight bump.

The Doctor bounced over the the doors, flinging them open with a smile. The beam slid off his face as he looked around. "No, this isn't right," He murmured, running back to the console and tapping in new coordinates quickly.

Clara raised an eyebrow. The journey was smooth and lasted a mere few seconds. The Doctor beamed at her, swinging his arms out from his sides excitedly. "Well, I think this is about right."

"Where are we _now_ then?" Clara cocked her head to one side as she bounded over to the Doctor and linked her arm with his.

"Exactly the same place as before," The Doctor smiled knowingly, striding over to the doors. He paused, looking at her expectantly.

Clara frowned, puzzlement taking over for a brief moment. It suddenly dawned on her what he was implying.

"Oh, I see," She grinned, poking his side lightly and laughing as he squirmed. She hadn't realised Time Lord's had tickles. "_When_ are we?"

The Doctor smiled a dazzling smile that took Clara's breath away as he opened the doors to reveal the new planet outside. "_Now_ you're asking the right questions."

They stepped outside the Tardis arm in arm, gazing around at there surroundings. Clara gaped at the view in front of her. Her feet brushed over the hard, uneven ground, littered with a fine layer of deep red soil which brushed over her feet lightly with each step she took. There were no signs of life around except for the trees, trees that, on further inspection weren't even trees. She released the Doctor's arm and bounded over to feel the branches experimentally. They were made of metal, small shards of ductile metal woven intricately together, casting an eery silver shadow on the ground beneath. She looked around in awe.

"Mars, approximately six hundred billion years in the future," The Doctor grinned, clasping his hands together in front of him as he looked at the sky. "Around five hundred years previous to the year on Abydos, where we had that run in with the ever so friendly natives."

"What are we doing here?" Clara asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she ducked around a nearby tree to the source of a peculiar noise she had just picked up on. She gasped in surprise. _Water._ "Hey look, Doctor! Water on mars!"

"Ah yes, the Streams of the Red Planet," The Doctor came to her side, placing his hand on her lower back as they gazed at the trickling water. It was beautiful, Clara noted, like a minature waterfall. The most amazing thing about it was the soft shades of lilac, pink and red of the water droplets.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The Doctor murmured, echoing her thoughts.

Clara nodded mutely, crouching down beside th small stream, the two companions momentarily forgetting about why they were actually there. Clara gasped. "Doctor, listen!"

The Doctor crouched down next to her as Clara tilted her head to the side, straining to hear the beautiful lilting music that seemed to be coming from the water itself.

"The water connects with the thought waves of the being nearest it to produce music," The Doctor explained with a smile. "The music produced is completely unique as it is formed by your own individual thoughts. Wonderful, isn't it?"

"It's so beautiful," Clara mused, listening intently to the music. It was sad and haunting, but at the same time, filled with hope and love. It was the most beautiful thing Clara had ever heard.

"I suppose," The Doctor scoffed lightly. "Nothing beats a tune on the recorder though."

"Which one of us is it making music for right now?" Clara asked curiously, leaning against the Doctor's side absentmindedly, smiling slightly at his words.

"Both of us, I should expect," The Doctor shrugged lightly. "There's no other natives on this planet, we're the only two right now. It's singing for us."

Clara felt a tear roll down her cheek in awe. The music was so beautiful, she was amazed.

"So this is our song," She smiled with a small laugh. She said it lightly but the thought of it being there song was extremely special to Clara.

"Yes, I suppose it is," The Doctor stood up with a small chuckle. Clara remained sitting beside the small stream, transfixed by the trickling water.

"Thank you," She whispered, hoping to convey as much emotion into the hushed whisper as the music was. The music made her think of love. Love and her Doctor. She smiled, standing up from the stream reluctantly.

"Stop talking to the water."

Clara laughed at the distant jibe from the Time Lord.

"As if you don't talk to your wooden box," She smirked.

She glanced around for the Time Lord, ducking her head under a branch of a nearby tree to find him crouched down, ear to the ground as he scanned the red soil with his sonic screwdriver.

"What are you doing?" She asked, bounding over to him with a giggle. "You never did tell me why we're here."

"Ah yes," The Doctor scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Remember when I told you about the Ice Warriors originating from Mars?"

Clara nodded in response with a slight frown as the Doctor began swiping away some of the red dust on the ground.

"Well, I thought they might have left something here. Something they were going to retrieve later when their army of Cybermen was complete," He tugged at something on the ground, giving a small pleased exclamation as it came loose from the soil. He sat back on his haunches, holding up the dull grey metal disk to her to inspect. Recognition hit Clara. It looked to be the second half of the metal fragment he had stolen from the Ice Warriors.

"We're here because of this. The Ice Warriors needed it for their Cyberman army to be complete, to obey them in battle, I expect. But they needed to wait to retrieve the missing piece, it wasn't completely formed."

The Doctor straightened up and brushed the dust off his clothing. Clara joined him, moving closer to get a better look at the metal fragment.

"I stole one of them, this is the other," The Doctor smiled proudly. "Put them together and it would give the Cybermen maximum power for battle. The Ice Warriors had one piece but had to wait for the second, it had to be retrieved in it's home planet's dying moments."

Clara nodded in understanding as the Doctor continued. "I expect the Sontarans weren't telling us something. They didn't just use all that Time lord energy they had for themselves. They gave a small portion of it to the Ice Warriors..."

"To travel back in time and take this metal thing at the right moment," Clara breathed, finishing his sentence for him as she realised what he meant.

"Precisely," The Doctor grinned, walking back in the direction of the Tardis and placing the metal object down on the ground gently. "At the right time, we'll dispose of it. I don't think the Sontarans are going to be very pleased with the Ice Warriors. Or us for the matter, but let's not-"

"Doctor," Clara whispered, unintentionally cutting him off, catching sight of the sky and looking at it properly for the first time. "You said the metal disk had to be retrieved in the planets dying moments."

"Yes, I did," The Doctor moved to stand beside her, his arm brushing against hers gently. "This planet is dying, Clara. It doesn't have long left. There's no one here but us."

Clara gaped at the sky in amazement. Spirals of glittering stars dotted the skyline close by, rings of glowing dust surrounding the planet. She could see other planets, of deep ochres and purples that appeared almost close enough to touch. The sky itself was a mixture of colours, ranging from a light orange hue at the horizon to dark, navy blue up above them.

"It's the most beautiful sky I've ever seen," She whispered breathlessly. "But it's only Mars, it's in our Galaxy! How..."

"The planets and stars all appear closer because the planet has expanded, but it's closing in on itself at the same time," The Doctor explained quietly. "It does make a rather nice scene."

Clara turned towards the Doctor, a smile glittering on her face. She reached up to cup his face with her hand, his eyes softening at her touch. She let her hand drift over his cheek lightly, her eyes saying all he needed to know. Her hand dropped to her side as she lost herself in the Doctor's eyes, more beautiful than any sky she had ever laid eyes on.

"Clara, my beautiful Clara," The Doctor murmured softly, his voice lilting as he said her name, making it sound more beautiful than the music made by the lilac waters of Mars. His hand trailed down her arm slowly, causing a shiver of pleasure to run down Clara's spine. He stopped at her hand, closing his fingers around hers gently and leaving them intertwined loosely.

"Clara Oswald," He murmured again, his hand drifting over one side of her face lightly as Clara's heart rate sped up, all the feelings she held for this Doctor that she had tried so hard to deny coming to the surface and extinguishing any coherent thoughts. She wasn't able to deny them anymore. The Doctor's hand rested lightly on her neck and Clara found her hands creeping up to rest shyly on his chest.

The Doctor ducked his head slightly with a faint smile, looking almost unsure. Clara was frozen to the spot, her undeniable feelings keeping her rooted to where she was standing. Her breath caught in her throat as the Doctor moved in closer slowly, their faces almost touching.

"Oh, Clara," He whispered with a faint smile, his lips brushing hers slightly. "I wasn't meant to feel this way."

His lips pressed against hers, and Clara felt complete bliss. One hand roamed up behind his neck to tangle in his hair, the other curling around his jacket lapels as she put into the kiss everything she felt for him, everything she couldn't put into words. The kiss was slow and sincere, and Clara had never felt so happy, so complete. The Doctor's hand remained at her jaw, his free hand wrapped around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

This Doctor, her Doctor, made her feel like no one had ever made her feel before. Their lips moved in perfect sync, and she couldn't imagine life being anymore perfect than this. All that mattered was the Doctor and her, together.

Clara felt the Doctor smile against her lips, a slight upwards curve of his mouth. The kiss ended all too soon, the Doctor pulling back to look at her, adoration in his eyes that Clara was sure was mirrored in her own.

She caressed his cheek gently, smiling when he let out a contented sigh. She said the only thing she could in that moment, the only thing that would show how much he meant to her. He was everything to her.

"Doctor," She smiled sincerely. "My Doctor."

The Doctor pressed his lips against her forehead softly, causing Clara to smile in contentment.

"Oh!" Clara exclaimed as she remembered something vital. She reached her hand into her pocket and withdrew the Tardis key that she had forgotten to give back to the Doctor. She held it out to him, expecting him to take it from her, surprised when he shook his head with a smile and closed her fingers around the key gently, holding her hand in his own.

"It's yours," He smiled, giving a light chuckle when Clara's eyes widened in shock.

"But.. I can't.. Doctor, it's your Tardis key!" She protested, staring down at her hand enveloped in his.

"And now it's yours," He insisted, giving her hand a light squeeze and releasing her. "It will answer to you now, I have another for myself of course. But this one is yours, Clara Oswald."

Clara beamed, a radiant smile that lit up her eyes and caused the Doctor to smile himself. Before she even realised what she was doing, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, clutching the key tightly in her hand lest she dropped it.

She pulled back, laughing at the slightly shocked look on the unsuspecting Time Lord's face and kissed his nose affectionately, causing him to blink in surprise adorably.

"Thank you," She smiled, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. He held her close to him, laying his head on hers for a moment.

"We should go, this planet doesn't have long left," The Doctor sighed, seemingly reluctant to let her go. Clara nodded solemnly, her eyes lighting up suddenly as she had an idea.

"Wait there!" She grinned, rushing past the Doctor and into the Tardis.

"Come on, come on," She muttered impatiently, glancing around for something, anything that would do the trick. She grinned as she lay eyes on it. A plastic bottle.

"Thank you," She patted the Tardis console affectionately. This earlier version seemed to like her slightly better than the future one, and she had to say the ship was growing on her too.

She ran back out to a bemused looking Doctor, bottle in hand. She threw him a grin as she ran to the river, crouching down beside the trickling water and scooping up a small amount into the bottle. She sealed the now full bottle with a smile, standing up to meet the Doctor.

"Let's let some of this planet live on, eh?" She grinned as the Doctor smiled and put his arm around her, walking back to the ship and leaving the beautiful burning red planet behind.

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**Wowwww that took a while to write :o Whaddaya think? Cute or no? =)) Idk I like this pairing, all the Doctor's deserve to get a bit of love :) **

**I hope it makes sense, I made up the stuff myself, like the water on Mars and all that so hopefully that stuff is easy enough to understand, but unfortunately I don't own any of the characters or Doctor Who.**

**Hope you liked it, review to let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Aaaaand it's chapter nine :D I should be studying for my exams but instead I'm here writing fanfiction =)) On the bright side, it'll probably improve my English :) Hope you enjoy this chapter, please review to let me know what you think!**

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Clara untangled her arm from the Doctor's and skipped across the console energetically, a beam lighting up her face. Her head began to spin in quite a pleasant way as it suddenly dawned on her fully what had just happened moments before. The Doctor had kissed her. The Doctor. _Her_ Doctor. The Doctor that she had, though she had tried so hard not to admit it to herself as she was almost certain he wouldn't feel the same, strong feelings for. She hadn't said it out loud yet, quite frankly the thought of her happiness depending soley on one person frightened the hell out of her more than any Dalek could, but she was in love with him.

"So I guess this really is a snogbox then," She winked at the Doctor, throwing him a cheeky grin, tongue poking out between her teeth slightly.

The Doctor did a rather adorable double take, eyes wide in shock as he stumbled a bit in surprise. After nearly falling over his own feet and blushing slightly, he cleared his throat with a slight scowl.

"Snogbox?!" He squeaked, looking quite flustered. "The- The Tardis is not a _snogbox!_"

He cleared his throat again and straightened his bowtie, raising a finger to further establish his point, then lowering it again, at a loss for words as Clara grinned, struggling to restrain her laughter.

"Snogbox indeed," The Doctor scoffed, straightening up again with a haughty expression. "She is so much more than _just_ a snogbox."

The control room of the snogbox was filled with Clara's tinkling laughter as the Doctor flashed her a grin and bounded over to the console, an expression of grim determination on his face.

"Well, Clara," The Doctor's face became more serious, though his eyes remained bright. "Do you know what happens next?"

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Clara sighed, giving a small smile as she moved closer to the Doctor. He gave a faint, apologetic smile.

"Once we're in flight, the Sontarans will be able to trrack us," The Doctor elaborated gravely. "Let's just say current life in the... _Snogbox,_ won't be a stroll in the park from here on out."

He yanked back a lever, setting the Tardis in motion abruptly. Clara grabbed onto the structure of the console for support as the sudden departure, the ship slowly into a smooth flight again almost instantly after take off. Compared to other journeys in the Tardis, this one seemed quite uneventful so far. She frowned slightly in confusion.

"Doesn't seem to be too much happening right now," She observed at their calm flight.

The Doctor raised a challanging eyebrow at her just as the ship seemed to hit turbulence and began to spin wildly out of control.

Clara let out a yelp of surprise, grasping the side of the console and clinging on for dear life as the Doctor stumbled around it, pulling out a screen from the side and tapping a sequence of buttons. His expression darkened considerably, his whole visage drooping.

"Oh dear," He raised his eyebrows and wrung his hands together with a nervous chuckle. "We are in trouble."

Before Clara could ask what was wrong he was bounding around the console, working the controls at a dizzying pace, one that Clara could never in her wildest dreams have hoped to compete with, even with the Doctor's flying lessons.

"Doctor, what can I do to help?" Clara asked, tightening her grip on the edge of the conole as she stared at the Time Lord with wide eyes.

He looked up briefly and jabbed a finger at the screen beside her.

"Keep an eye on that, Clara, and tell me if you spot anything out of the ordinary!" He ordered, giving a small yelp as a spark emitted from the Tardis engines. He scowled and thumped the console with his fist as Clara rushed over to the screen, grabbing it to bring it closer to her eye level. One of the things she loved about this Doctor was that he always made her feel important, and that if she wanted to assist him in something, he would allow her to. She stared at the small screen intently.

"This is what's outside the Tardis?" She breathed, her tone a mixture of awe and concern.

"Well I should hope so!" The Doctor yelled, giving the console another whack as it creaked loudly. "How close are the Sontarans?"

Clara squinted at the screen. Dozens of large, metal-clad ships were buzzing around them in the distance, the image shifting ever so slightly as they contintued their not-so-smooth flight. Clara winced as they narrowly avoided what looked like either a small planet, or a very large rock. The Sonataran ships didn't appear to be extremely close, in fact they weren't even following them as such, merely hovering around in their general direction.

"They're close, but not too close," Clara informed him quickly, hoping she was making sense. "They're moving, they're coming closer but... It doesn't look like they're following us."

Clara frowned at the odd scene, unsure of how the Sontarans hunted. Though they were a distance away, they still seemed much larger than the Tardis, and Clara felt almost worried for the ship's safety not to mention their own.

"Oh, give them time," The Doctor huffed, scowling at the console which seemed to be putting up a fight against him. "Come on..." He muttered at the hissing Tardis. "Stop being stupid!"

The ship gave a loud annoyed moan at the Time Lord's words and seemed to begin to cooperate more.

"Oh, um, Doctor," Clara felt dread begin to form in the pit of her stomach as the Sonataran fleet began moving directly towards them at a sickeningly fast rate. She hadn't realised how many of their ship there were until now. "Now they're following us!"

She let out a low whistle. "That's a _lot_ of Sontarans," She murmured, unsure if the Doctor was fully listening. She straightened up with a jolt as the Tardis shook.

"Now they're firing at us!"

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Clara, it's not at all distracting!"

The Doctor winced as the Tardis suffered yet another blow from the impending Sontaran fleet. Clara gave a shout of defiance as the screen went blank, their conection being lost.

"Hold on, Clara!"

The Doctor reached for her hand and pulled her to him, crouching down on the floor of the Tardis.

"This bit isn't going to be very pleasant, I'm afraid," He muttered as he held Clara close to him, shielding her from the impact. Clara buried her face into his chest and squeezed her eyes shut, holding onto him tightly. If there was one thing she hated, it was a bumpy landing, especially if the Doctor agreed that it was bad.

They hit the ground with a colossal bang, sending the two sprawling across the floor and causing the entire ship to shake. The engines died out almost instantly, the Tardis becoming quiet.

Clara looked up, still holding onto the Time Lord, grateful that he had held her as they fell, making the impact less severe. This crash was definitely the worst yet, she decided, gazing around at the charred console and smoke emitting from the controls.

"S'gunna take a bit more than a sonic screwdriver to fix this," She murmured, causing the Doctor to chuckle, though his eyes remained serious.

"We'll worry about that later," The Doctor stood abruptly, holding out a hand and pulling Clara up with him. "Right now we have bigger problems. Such as the fact that we're on board an enemy ship."

Clara grimaced as they looked to the doors with equally grave expressions. She swallowed nervously.

"Plan?"

"Possibly. Well, part one of the plan," The Doctor scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.

"Which is?"

"To find and rescue my future self without being killed," He smiled brightly, stating it as if it would be the easiest feat in the universe, though Clara was well aware that it was far from that. "And I'm sure we'll stop the Sontarans along the way," He paused, fingers to his lips as he frowned in thought. "Somehow."

"Plan part one is ago then," Clara grinned, trying not to feel too fearful about the daunting fate that waited outside the Tardis doors. The Doctor smiled at her encouragingly as they neared the wooden exit of the ship.

"Wait," Clara grabbed the Doctor's arm, causing him to stop in his tracks to look at her, a slightly confused expression on his face. Clara looked up into his eyes, realising that with the danger they were in, the Tardis wouldn't be much of a snogbox for a while.

He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off by capturing his lips with her own, causing him to make a slightly startled sound. He soon came to his senses and returned the kiss, an understanding between them that they were going into an extremely dangerous situation.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around Clara, pulling her closer to him as Clara wrapped her arms around his neck. She realised she was fighting tears, as she didn't know when they would get to be this close again. She had never been afraid of dying, but she didn't want to die, not now that she had found something worth living for.

The kiss was filled with desperation and fear of what was to come, and neither wanted to part.

They pulled away when they needed air, the Doctor resting his forehead against Clara's for one blissful moment. He took Clara's hands in his own and held them tightly but gently.

"Promise me something," Clara whispered, opening her eyes and looking into the Doctor's, chocolate brown on dazzling blue.

The Doctor merely nodded, a somewhat regretful expression on his face. Clara squeezed his hands in hers tightly to further establish her request.

"Promise me that we'll be okay, you and me," She whispered earnestly. Her biggest fear was not the Sontarans waiting for them outside, but losing him. "That we'll both get out of this safely, and everything will be okay."

The Doctor swallowed and Clara's heart began to hammer in her chest at his hesitation before answering.

"I promise," He whispered, touching his lips to hers briefly and releasing her hands, keeping hold of one as he went to open the doors. Clara held onto his hand tightly, unwilling to break contact with him, her lips still tingling with the intensity of the kiss.

The moment they took their first step outside the door, approximately forty guns were pointed at them by helmet clad Sontarans. The Doctor smiled and put his hands up in the air as if in surrender, Clara following suite.

"Now, now, it only takes one gun to kill a person," The Doctor raised his eybrows at the armoured aliens and their deadly weapons. "No need to become so excited."

The Sontaran closest to them lowered his weapon, pressing a button on the side of his helmet. The helmet slid smoothly into his amour with a soft hiss and the alien's face was revealed. Clara felt her own face scrunch up slightly in disgust, remembering the last time she had laid eyes on a Sontaran.

"How do they tell each other apart?" She hissed in a low atone to the Doctor.

"I expect they say the same about us," The Doctor gave the best impression of a shrug he could with his hands still raised in the air.

"General Stal, Commander of the Sonataran fleet," The Sonataran introduced itself haughtily as the Doctor sighed. Clara fought back a grin at the Time Lord's impatient behaviour. He had obviously seen enough of this before.

"You will come with us," Stal commanded as four Sontarans grabbed the two companions by each arm and began to lead them away from the squad of remaining alien soldiers.

"See, Clara, we even have an escort!" The Doctor smiled brightly at his companion. "I told you the Sontarans had wonderful hospitality."

"You were right there, Doc," Clara grinned up at the Time Lord. "Of course I was hoping for cocktails aswell but..."

"Cease talking!" General Stal ordered, a scowl on his dark visage. "You will be brought before Commander Stor, and will speak when spoken to."

"Yeah, well neither of us our very good at that," Clara shrugged lightly, expressing her gobby side, enlightened by the Doctor's casual way he handled the aliens. Having the Time Lord close by made her feel less intimidated.

Her words were steadily ignored by the Sontaran but earned a soft chuckle from the Doctor which warmed her heart despite their current situation.

They were led into a large, brightly lit room which was filled with more machinery than people. A large, humming machine that looked to be the same as the one the Sonatarans had aquired the last time they had met stood in the centre of the room, taking up much of the space. Beside the machinery with his face upturned towards a high screen on the wall was a lone Sontaran.

"Commaner Stor, Sir!"

General Stal gave a firm salute to the unmasked Sonataran who turned to face the two prisoners. Clara squirmed in the graps of the two Sontarans who held her captive, feeling suddenly uncomfortable as she scowled at the alien leader.

"Release them," Stor gave a smug smirk. "They are no threat to me."

Clara let out an audible sigh of relief as the Sontarans's released her. They gave a brisk salute and marched from the room.

"I would prefer to speak with the prisoners alone, Stal," Commander Stor stated flatly, still wearing the same smug expression that made Clara's stomach turn and her hands clench into fists as she positioned herself closer to the Doctor out of comfort. The Sonataran smirked and continued. "I do not require assistance with these two."

"As you wish, Commaner Stor," Stal gave a stern nod. "I will prepare for battle."

"You will prepare for glory," Commaner Stor corrected as Stal saluted and left the room.

The Doctor spread his arms wide and positively beamed at the Sontaran.

"Stor old chap, how wonderful it is to see you again! I'd love to say you're looking well, but you look exactly the same as every other Sontaran what with that whole cloning businness..."

The Doctor bounded forward as if to grab Stor by the hand. The Sontaran held his head high with a wide eyed expression and scowled at the Doctor, though didn't budge from where he was standing.

"Cease in your tracks, Time Lord!"

"Oh, you don't do hand shakes then?" The Doctor feigned disappointment. "Oh well, no matter. I'm sure the lovely chat we're about to have will more than compensate!"

Clara held back a giggle at the Sontaran's wearing patience.

"You know why you are here, Time Lord," Stor stated gruffly, standing as obstute as a statue in front of them. "You may have tried to foil our plans, but we still have our Time Lord technology."

Stor gestured to the machine beside them proudly and walked over to it.

"Yes, well it's very lovely and I'm glad you managed to repair it but I don't see how it will come to much use."

"Oh, but it will," The Sontaran smirked coldly. "You are not the only Time Lord here. We have your Eleventh self kept hostage here in our holding cells. He's wearing a bit thin, but no matter! Two of you is still better than one."

Clara looked to the Doctor, eyes wide but he was staring determindly at the Sontaran. The Doctor's future self was here too? She hoped he was alright, she didn't trust the Sontarans for a second.

"We still plan to harness your Time Lord regeneration energy and use it to conquer the universe!" Stor boomed. "Sontar-Ha!"

"And how do you expect to harness that energy?" The Doctor scowled, taking a step forward. "It would tear you apart!"

Stor smiled smugly and clenched a three finger fist, thumping it to his chest where a shining golden chain with a small capsule suspended on it hung, swinging slightly at the sudden movement. Clara instantly recognised it from their last run in with the smug aliens. Stor wore a proud expression on his face as he continued to explain.

"I wear the Gallifreyan capsule!"

"And very fetching it is too!"

"Enough!" Stor ordered, holding up a hand in annoyance. "You will obey me! Both of you! Your human friend is only needed temporarily, she will later be disposed of. We will harness this energy using the power of the cybermen's talisman. We are aware, Doctor, that you and your companion stole each half of the talisman, foiling our plans for a rise of the cybermen in our name, where we would control them, we would use them for our own purposes."

Stor let out a loud booming laugh. "The Ice Warriors as they call themselves trusted us, they thought they were going to be in charge of their own army. Warriors indeed, they disobeyed the first rule of war! Never trust a Sontaran." Stor forced what resembled a grin onto his face. "We only needed to kinetic cyber energy to transport the regeneration energy to the capsule, then the remaining uprisen cybermen would become ours until they all perished in battle."

"But you can't!" Clara piped up, taking a shaky but determined step forward while still maintaining a slight distance from the Sontaran leader. "You don't _have_ the talisman!"

"But you do," Stor smirk turned sinister as he held out a hand expectantly. "Both fragments, I know they are in your possession, Time Lord. Give them to me."

The Doctor paused. "And if I refuse?"

Clara squeaked in surprise as Commander Stor lurched forward and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her into an uncomfortable headlock, his gun aimed towards her skull. Clara's breathing quickened as she struggled against his iron grip. The Doctor's eyes widened in fear as he took a step forward.

"Give them to me or she dies!" Commander Stor snarled threateningly, his grip on Clara tightening.

"Now, let's not be hasty," The Doctor began hurriedly, concern lacing his tone. "Let her go."

"Not until you give me both halves of the talisman," Was the stern reply, imminent victory lacing Stor's tone.

The Doctor sighed and reached into his pockets. Clara met his eyes and shook her head at him adamantly. She would rather die than let the Sontarans win, but the Doctor seemed to be at a loss.

The Time Lord took out the two halves of the talisman and stared down at them in his hands hopelessly.

"Doctor, don't give them to him!" Clara yelled, letting out an indignant cry as Stor pressed the gun up against the side of her head. Her struggling was futile. Clara looked to the Doctor again.

She noticed a change in his expression, a slight lightening of his eyes, almost the faint ghost of a smirk beginning to form on his face. Clara realised with a spark of hope that he had never been truly worried, the eccentric Time Lord had had a plan all along.

"You know," He looked up, speaking in a lighthearted tone as he balanced the two metal fragments in one hand and pulled out a small, seemingly harmless plastic ball from his other pocket. "Sontarans are just splendid, they have no fear, they're brilliant in battle. They just have one weakness."

"Sontarans have no weakness," Stor growled proudly. "Hand over what is rightfully ours!"

"You see, Clara," The Doctor ignored Stor's words and turned his attention to his companion who had lessened her struggling against the Sontaran somewhat, hope filling her. "They absorb energy through a probic vent located at the back of their necks. Any sudden blow to the vent will stun them, even kill them. That's why they always face their enemy in battle." He grinned cheerfully. "Isn't that just wonderful?"

Clara nodded slowly, a smile beginning to grow on her face as she wondered where the Doctor was going with this.

"Another weakness of the Sontaran's would be making an enemy of me."

The Doctor's tone remained light but held a hint of harshness at the threat.

"And considering you're being so rude as to threaten the life of my companion, I'm afraid you've just earned yourself a second weakness," The Doctor flung the small plastic ball at the far wall behind Commander Stor, the impact as it hit the wall causing it to rebound and hit the Sontaran in the vent on the back of it's neck. Clara jumped away as Stor let out a cry of rage mingled with pain and released his hold on her, sinking to the ground, a hissing noise emitting from the vent.

"Back of the neck!" Clara whooped in victory, rushing over to the Doctor who now had the two metal fragments safely back inside his pockets. Clara grabbed his hand and pulled him from the room, away from the stirring Sontaran. She wanted to get as far away from the creature as possible, unwilling to hang around.

"Oswald! You're not suppose to grab my hand and run, that's my job," The Doctor grumbled, causing Clara to laugh. They stopped just outside the door, Clara glanced around the hall for more Sontarans with bated breath.

"Come along," The Doctor whispered, giving Clara's hand a light squeeze. "Let's find my other self."

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**Hoped you liked that one! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing this story, I'm so glad you guys like it, especially you Zarius and wibblywobbywhogirl :) Hope you keep enjoying the story!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guyssss, I have exams so updates might be a bit slower from now on, I hope to update every couple of days though :) I hope ye're still enjoying the story! Here's chapter ten;;)**

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"Where... Where do we start looking?" Clara wheezed, slightly out of breath from all the running. The Doctor seemed unaffected and continued dragging her along down the thankfully deserted corridors.

"Should be this way!" He assured her, pulling her around a corner. He stopped suddenly, causing the unsuspecting Clara to crash into him. She let out a small exclamation of surprise but the Doctor hushed her quickly.

They had stepped out into a seemingly desolate, dimly lit corridor. The Doctor slowed his pace, casting a suspicious glance around them. Clara looked up at him questioningly.

"He's nearby, I can feel it," The Doctor muttered ominously as they walked at an agonisingly slow pace down the deserted hallway. Clara frowned, looking around for any signs of the other Doctor.

"I don't see any-"

"Oh!" The Doctor exclaimed, cutting Clara off and slapping his hands to his pockets as he searched for something frantically. He grinned as he retrieved his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the empty nothingness in front of them, aiming upwards. "Shimmer!"

With a small buzz of the sonic screwdriver, Clara watched with wide eyes as the corridor in front of them blurred slightly, coming into focus again. Clara blinked in surprise. Instead of the empty corridor, there was what looked to be a large metal box suspended in the air above them just a few meters ahead. The box was a perfect, equal square, dark grungy grey in colour so that it almost blended in with the dimly lit hallway. Intricate designs decorated the walls haphazardly, and clara din't fail to notice that there was no door.

"What the..." Clara trailled off, gaping at the metal prison in shock.

"Quite advanced technology for Sontarans," The Doctor frowned suspiciously. "Not to worry though, we've found him now!"

Clara was about to ask who they had found as she didn't see anyone, when a scuffling sound was heard from the box above them. Clara craned her neck to see a small, square window slide back in the side of the box facing them. A slight sheen reflected off the strong glass covering what looked to be the only exit. A head poked up to stare out at them with an expression on his face that appeared just a surprised as Clara felt.

"You and you!" The Doctor's Eleventh self yelped in shock and confusion.

"Aha!" The second Doctor exclaimed happily, clasping his hands together in front of him. "What are you doing up there, old chap?"

"Oh just having a kip," Eleven glared sarcastically. "Waiting for you to get me out of course! Took you long enough!"

"Well, while you've been sitting up there doing nothing, we've actually been busy!"

"Sitting up here doing nothing?! Now look here-"

"Stop it, both of you!" Clara ordered, struggling not to laugh. "If the Sontarans find us, we'll all be stuck in that box."

"You didn't object to being stuck in a box before," The Doctor beside her pouted, a smile playing around his lips. Clara gave him a playful shove at the refrence to the Tardis and stood on her tip toes to get a better view of the situation.

"How do we get him out?" She asked worriedly.

"Oh, I don't know. Chinny has a plan, don't you, Chinny?"

"Just get me out of here!" Chin Boy yelled, smushing his face up against the window unattractively in his eagerness to escape. Clara giggled at the sight.

"Can't we just smash the window?" Clara asked with a shrug. "You don't happen to have a hammer in your pocket, do you?"

"A hammer," The Doctor scoffed, taking out his recorder and bringing it to his lips. "Now, that would be ridiculous."

Clara shook her head with a small chuckle as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star filled the dark hallway.

"And anway," The Doctor paused in his song and gave her a knowledgable look. "That glass is special designed so that it can't be broken on impact."

"Come on," Eleven moaned in exasperation. "I've been stuck up here ages!"

"Well," The Doctor's second incarnation held his fingers to his lips thoughtfully. "I suppose we could go about it the long, safe way, but that would be boring..."

"Doctor..." Clara began warningly but the Time Lord's face had already lit up into a mischievious smile. Clara was certain that this indictated doing things the safe way was not an option anymore.

"Would you mind standing back from that window?" The Doctor called up to his future self who scowled at him.

"_Yes._"

"Didn't think you would," The Doctor smiled brightly, aiming his sonic screwdriver at the window and upping the frequency setting. Clara covered her ears as a high pitched noise began to emit from the device and watched the Eleventh Doctor jumped back as the window began to crack. It shattered with a huge crash, Clara and the Doctor jumping back to prevent getting rained upon by the broken shards.

"Specially made glass that can only be broken from the outside. I must say I wasn't sure if that would work," The Doctor smiled proudly, putting his screwdriver back into his pocket as if nothing had happened. "Well go on then, out you come!"

Eleven's head appeared again cautiously, eyes wide. "Yes," He muttered quietly. "I always was a bit mad."

"I beg your pardon?!"

"You expect me to climb out of here?" The Doctor ignored his former self's indignant comment as he peered over the edge.

"You're quite a skinny fellow, you'll manage it! Come along, stop wasting time."

The Doctor huffed in annoyance and heaved himself through the small opening, which was only just large enough for his entire form to fit through bit by bit. He tumbled over the edge and slid down the side of the box to the ground. He hopped up, look disheveled as he fixed his bowtie and sniffed. His hair was a mess and his clothes were tattered, but he was all in one piece.

"See, that wasn't so hard was it?" Clara laughed, hugging the Doctor as she realised how much she'd missed him. "Long time no see, Chin Boy."

"Oh, Clara you don't know how relieved I am to see you!" The Doctor pulled back from the hug, running a hand through his hair and letting out a sigh. He stumbled over to his former self and leaned on the smaller Time Lord for support, his gangly legs tripping him up. "Stuck in there for ages, I was!"

"Only because you were too thick to find a way out," The second Doctor gave a half hearted attempt to shrug his future self off.

"As if you'd have done any better!"

"I think I just did!" The Doctor pointed up at the metal prison. "I just got you out of there!"

"What did I say about fighting," Clara scolded as if she was talking to children. In a way, she was. Both Doctor's acted childish the majority of the time. She rolled her eyes.

"Come along then," Two stated gruffly, beginning back down the corridor.

"Let's follow the small fellow then," Eleven teased lightly, bounding after him, his usual cheer restored.

"Small?!" The Doctor squeaked indignantly. "I am not _small!"_

"Yes you are."

"Tell that to your non-esistant eyebrows!"

The Doctor huffed in annoyance, throwing a hand up to cover his eyebrows self conciously.

"You two are just like children!" Clara laughed, taking the second Doctor's hand as they quickened their pace down the corridor.

"This way!" Eleven tugged on his former self's sleeve and led them around the next corner. They came to a halt in front of a bland, nondescript door. The Doctor puffed out his chest proudly. "Back entrance to the Sontarans main control room. Being kept captive here has it's perks."

"Well done, Chinny," The Doctor grinned, patting his future self on the shoulder. "I knew I was good for something."

Clara rolled her eyes, glad at least that they weren't fighting anymore.

"Okay, you go in first," The Doctor gave his shorter self a small push in the direction of the door.

"Me? Why me!"

"Well someone has to!"

The second incarnation of the Doctor took a coin from his pockets and held it in his hand. "We'll toss on it. Heads or tails?"

"Hea-"

"Oh, for God sake!" Clara groaned, pushing past the two Doctor's and throwing the door open herself. "Oh," She bit her lip and stopped in her tracks at the numerous guns that were now pointed straight at her.

The second Doctor jumped in front of her quickly, shielding her from the Sontarans. Eleven came to stand by his side.

"It's alright," The Chin Boy Doctor began to walk towards the Sontarans, giving them a wave and a cheery smile. "We come in peace!"

"No, we don't!" Two hissed at him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him back.

"Oh yeah."

"How did he get out?" One Sontaran boomed, striding up to where they were standing.

"It doesnt matter how he got out," Another growled. "The two of them are here now, let's get on with this!"

The second Doctor winked at his future self who gave a light smirk and inclined his head, an exchange Clara could have easily missed had she not been paying attention. She had no idea what they were up to, but she was glad they were finally agreeing on something. He began to stride casually over to the machine, Clara following him slowly, eyes on the Sontarans who were currently being distracted by the Doctor's eleventh form.

"Stand there, Clara and don't look suspicious," The Doctor whispered hurriedly, crouching down beside the machine and beginning to mess with the wires.

"What are you doing?" Clara hissed, standing in front of him with her arms folded as nonchalantly as she could manage so as not to draw unwanted attention to themselves.

"Something clever."

"Which of you has the cyber talisman?" The Sontaran demanded to know. "Is it you, escapee?"

"I'm terribly sorry but I don't think I know what you're talking about," The eleventh Doctor shifted from foot to foot, hands clasped behind his back. "If it's something you've lost I always find that behind the couch is a good place to look, you'd be surprised how ma-"

"Enough!" The Sontaran roared, ramming a long staff down on the ground in aggitation. "I have had enough of this! If you will not give us the talisman we will take it by force!"

"Oh, sorry, did you mean this?" Clara's Doctor hopped up from beside the machine and bounded into full view of the Sontarans. He waved the two halves of the metal plate up in the air with a grin. "Here, catch, Chinny!"

He tossed one half of the metal fragments to his other self, who thankfully caught it. Clara let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Putting so much faith in the Doctor's coordination skills was not a good idea and she was grateful it had paid off.

"Ah, brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed, examining the jagged metal in his hands. "Always wanted one of these."

"Yes, well I'll buy you another when this is over," Two joked, taking out his sonic screwdriver and motioning for Clara to stand behind him.

"What do you mean?" The Sontaran demanded. "Seize them, before they do something foolish! We have twice the stupidity with these two."

"Oh, no no no, you're going to want to see this first," The second Doctor grinned mischieviously, holding up his piece of talisman.

"Oh, you're gunna love this!" Eleven beamed as Two flicked a switch on the machine and the two Time Lord's aimed their twin sonic screwdrivers at it simutaneously.

"First, we harness the Time Lord technology from the machine," Eleven yelled, a grin spreading across his face. "You know, that bit that makes things bigger on the inside."

Clara ducked out of a way, a smile forming on her face as she watched things begin to fall into place.

"Then comes the fun part," Two grinned, the two Doctor's throwing each part of the talisman up into the air at the same time from either sides of the room. The two fragments of jagged metal hurtled through the air towards each other as the Doctor's each aimed their sonic screwdrivers at them simutaneously.

A beam of jagged purple light shot out of each sonic screwdriver, hitting the two metal pieces.

"We reverse the polarity to make each _smaller_ on the inside, so that the technology inside each piece contracts," Two explained with a yell. Clara resisted the urge to cover her ears to block out the unearthly buzzing sound coming from the screwdrivers.

"Then we up the frequency..." Eleven continued, tongue poking out from between his teeth in concentration.

"Two Doctor's mean two sonic screwdrivers. And two sonic screwdrivers means double the power of the frequency range..."

"So that the technology inside each piece of the talisman contracts so much that it disappears altogether..."

"Rendering it useless!" Two finished with a beam, the two Doctor's each lowering their sonic devices at the same time. The two pieces of talisman clattered to the ground as the Sontarans let out an outraged cry. Clara let out a whoop of victory at the Sontarans failure.

The second Doctor twirled his sonic screwdriver in his hands. "No cyber talisman, no medium for the regeneration energy to pass through."

"Sontarans lose!" Eleven shouted, moving to stand beside his former self and giving him an affectionate pat on the head. The smaller Time Lord gave a nod and a proud smile to his beaming future self.

"I think we did quite well there, Chinny, don't you think?"

"Yes, yes, well done, I'm proud of me and me."

"No!" The Sontaran that Clara guessed to be Commander Stor rushed at them, staff raised, his eyes flashing with anger at his foiled plans.

"Yes," The Doctor's chorused.

"I still have the capsule," Stor roared in rage. "Even if I can't direct the regeneration energy to my army, I can still take it from you!"

Clara realised that all attention was being directed towards the two Doctors, not her. She gritted her teeth in determination, hoping she wasn't being stupid and realising she didn't care anyway. Being the lady that she was, she rushed up behind Stor and jumped onto his back and gave the vent at the back of his neck a sharp jab. The Sontaran let out a groan and Clara began to slide off his back, losing her grip. Without thinking she told hold of the chain and yanked it hard, ripping it from Stor's neck. She scampered away quickly, capsule in hand.

"Oops, guess you can't now," She grinned, brushing her hair out of her face as she panted slightly with the sudden exertion and tossed the capsule to one of the Doctor's who caught it and stuff it inside his jacket with a grin.

"Well done, Clara," The second Doctor rushed to her side and gave her hand a squeeze with a wink. "I knew I kept you for something."

"Oi!" Clara punched him on the arm at the playful joke. She jumped in fright as commander Stor stood from his position on the ground.

"I obviously didn't hit him hard enough," Clara spoke through gritted teeth, beginning to back away. She was sure she wasn't one of Stor's favourite people at that current moment. Several Sontarans rushed over to assist their leader but he pushed them back, despite the pain he was in.

"I do not require assistance!" He snarled, standing to his feet and facing his three enemies.

Clara felt something move slightly in her pocket and stuffed a hand inside quickly, her fingers curling around the warm metal of her Tardis key which she guessed was glowing bright gold. She grinned as the sound of the Tardis materialising filled the room.

"No! You do not win this time, Doctors!" Stor raised a three fingered hand and pointed it at them accusingly. "You may think we have lost, but we never lose!"

"Get to the Tardis, Clara," The Doctor urged her, pushing her in the direction of the ship.

"I'm not leaving you," She stated in her best don't-mess-with-me tone, tightening her hold on his hand as he relented with a worried frown.

"Our army is strong without you! We can still win, and we will prove that!" Stor roared. "By waging war on Gallifrey! As of now, the greatest war yet will start! We will destroy your planet and all it's people and there is _nothing_ you can do to stop us!"

Clara felt her stomach turn sickeningly at Stor's harsh words. She looked up at the Doctors to see horror etched on both their faces.

"Permission to kill them, Sir," One helmet-clad Sontaran questioned flatly.

"No," Stor gave a sickening grin. "I want the Doctor and his companion to watch his planet _die_!"

The Doctor pushed Clara to the open doors of the Tardis and she stumbled inside.

"You can run, Doctor! But you cannot hide from the truth! It is too late to stop us!"

The two Doctor's wordlessly entered the Tardis after Clara, slamming the doors behind them at Stor's last battle cry.

"Gallifrey falls! Sontar-Ha!"

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**Ooooooh a cliffie :D Hope you liked that one, can't wait to write the next chapter :D Hopefully have it posted tomorrow :) Review to let me know what you think, and any constructive criticism is more than welcome!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Last chapter you guys! Hope you like it! Please review to let me know what you think :)**

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Clara stumbled across the control room to the console, fear in her heart and a sickening dread in the pit of her stomach. She knew that this was unanticipated bad news. She knew the Sontarans were untrustworthy, but she didn't think any of them had expected them to initiate a full fledged war on the Doctor's home planet.

She looked to the Doctors, seeing the concern on their faces. She felt an ache in her heart as she looked at her Doctor and saw the pain in his eyes. She realised that even if they got out of this, he would have to deal with another war far into his future, the Last Great Time War. He would face even more pain, even more suffering and loss. The realisation was like a punch to the gut.

"The Time Lord's!" The Doctor's eleventh self sprung to the console and began to pilot the ship with the aid of his former self. "We have to contact them now, right now!"

The second Doctor let out a groan and held his head in his hands for a moment, letting his hands slide down his face in frustration.

"We're dead!" He cried, flapping his hands about in aggitation whilst trying to pilot the ship. "Well, I am anyway. There's no way I'll get out of this exile now, in fact they'll probably execute me!"

"Don't think like that!" Clara yelped, fixing him with a stern glare. "They wouldn't do that!"

"Clara's right," Eleven assured him, though Clara didn't fail to notice the hint of unsureness in his eyes. "I know they'll be angry... But they need you, they need us!"

The Doctor grumbled in response and pulled out the screen from the centre of the console. Clara found it quite intruiging to watch the two Doctor's piloting the Tardis at the same time. She realised that the ship was probably designed to be flown by multiple Time Lord's at once, but the Doctor, being the Doctor had obviously taken matters into his own hands.

"What are we doing now?" Clara asked breathlessly, trying not to let the fear seep into her voice. She needed to be strong for the Time Lord she loved.

"Attempting to contact the Gallifreyan high council," The second incarnation of the Doctor muttered as he concentrated. Clara watched intently as the screen flickered and came to life but quickly faded into blackness again. The Doctor clicked his tongue impatiently, giving the screen a whack. It buzzed and hissed like a tv struggling to settle on one station, and Clara kept catching glimpses of the outline of a figure.

"Hello?" The Doctor tried, giving the screen another shake. "This is the Doctor speaking. Well," He shot his eleventh self a quick look and grimaced. "One of them. Can you hear me?"

Clara gasped as the image on the screen finally came into focus and leaned forward to get a closer look. A man with a stony expression and stern eyes glared at them. He was dressed in regal robes of ruby and other shades of deep reds, embelllished with intricate gold furnishings.

"Lord President of Gallifrey," The Doctor whispered to Clara as an introduction.

"Lord? Very prestigious isn't he?" Clara responded, earning a small laugh from the Doctor which was quickly extinguished by the man's suddenly furious expression.

"Doctor," He growled, his expression dark and forboding. "You-"

"Yes, yes I know, let's get on to the matter at hand, shall we?" The Doctor spoke hurriedly. "Lord President, you are under attack."

"Under attack?" The Gallifreyan gave a loud scoff, his eyes remaining menacing. "Are you out of your mind, man? I think I'd know if we were under attack."

"Listen to me, it's the Sontarans, they-"

"You are a fugitive, Doctor. How do you expect me to belie-"

"It's true!" Clara cut in, glowering at the prestigious Lord President. "Listen, any minute now millions of Sontarans are going to drop out of the sky and start a war on you and your planet!"

"Who is this?" The man questioned at Clara sudden entrance to the conversation.

"This is Clara," The Doctor's stressed expression slipped into a cheerful smile as he glanced at her. Clara gave a small wave. The ship lurched suddenly and she grabbed onto the Doctor's arm to steady herself, shooting his future self a glare.

"S'not my fault!" He moaned, attempting to steer the Tardis out of harms way. "The Sontarans are heading the same way we are, it's interrupting the timey wimey-"

"Doctor, what in the name of Rassilon is going on?" The president demanded. A huge bang seemed to shake the room where the Gallifreyan was sitting. His eyes widened in shock and fear. "What was that?"

"It's already starting," The Doctor groaned. "Look-"

"What is starting, Doctor?" The leader of the Time Lord's was becoming frantic as other Gallifreyans wearing similar attire rushed to his side and squinted up at the Doctor and Clara.

"It's the Doctor!" One of them exclaimed.

"Yes, hello," The Doctor smiled at their shocked and slightly outraged faces. Eleven bounded over to his former self's side and placed an arm around his shoulders, offering the Gallifreyan's a lopsided grin.

"Hello there, fellow Time Lord's!" He exclaimed joyously with a wave. "Hi!"

"Good grief, there's two of them."

"Look," The second Doctor wrung his hands nervously. "About the exile-"

"Forget about the exile," The Gallifreyan president cried as chaos ensued behind him. "You are our only hope, Doctor. Both of you, and your companion. Please, Doctor, hel-"

The screen began to break up and cries of the Gallifreyans were heard. Clara felt tears prick her eyes at the horrendous scene. The Lord President seemed panicked and attempted to shout something but the signal was lost, and the screen went black.

Clara put her hand on the Doctor's arm lightly, hoping to comfort him. He looked at her, his expression downcast and so much pain in his eyes. She reached up to touch his cheek gently and he closed his eyes briefly at the contact.

"We'll save them, Doctor," She whispered, desperately wishing she could believe her own words. "We will, it'll be okay."

He moved his hand to rest over hers and offered her a light smile. Both looked up at a small cough to see a wide eyed eleventh Doctor staring at them in disbelief.

"You... You two..." He looked from from to the other in surprise. "You're not... _Really?"_

Both blushed and Clara let out a strained chuckle, the heat rushing to her flushed cheeks. She knew how strange it must be for the Doctor to see one of his past selves with someone, especially when it had happened so that it hadn't happened in the future Doctor's personal past yet.

Clara's Doctor cleared his throat and hopped over to the console. "Anyway," He began, pulling various levers and hurriedly changing the subject. "We have to do something. Fly down into Gallifrey's atmosphere, intercept the Sontarans..."

He trailed off as the two Doctors looked from one to the other, seemingly defeated. Eleven closed his eyes for a moment. "There's nothing we can do," He murmured. "There's no way we can stop them. This is just like before, the Last Great Time War, it's happening again only sooner."

"The Last what?" The Doctor squeaked, fear flitting over his face. Clara realised that the Last Great Time War the Doctor had mentioned to her before was in this Doctor's future, he didn't know of the pain and loss he would have to go through yet. She resisted the urge to throw her arms around the unsuspecting Time Lord and never let go as his future self began to explain with an apologetcic tone.

"It's a war in my past, but in your future," He began, his eyes sorrowful. "I shouldn't be telling you this, breaking the main rule of stepping into one of my other selves' timestreams but I don't think that matters at this point. It was between the Daleks and the Gallifreyans, they..."

He trailed off and swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath.

"Everyone dies, don't they?"

The second Doctor clutched the edge of the console for support, horror etched all over his face. Clara felt her heart break at the sight of the shaking Time Lord. She wiped away tears furiously. Now was _not_ the time to cry. She took his hand carefully, knowing that the small form of contact meant a lot to him.

"Yes," Eleven murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "I- You... We become the last of our kind. I shouldn't be telling you this, but our situation right now is really serious. This wasn't supposed to happen, it's a complete change in history!"

Two took a shuddering breath and blinked, coming back to his sense. "I suppose I'll have to forget," He murmured to himself quietly. He frowned as if in thought, then seemed to come to a conclusion. "I know what I have to do."

He looked to Clara, fire raging in his eyes and put his hands on either side of her face. Clara's breath caught in her throat at the sudden gesture. The Doctor brought his lips to hers and kissed her softly, pulling away with a mournful expression on his face. He stroked her cheek softly and Clara brough her hand up to cover his.

He turned to his future self, his expression grave. "Take her somewhere safe," He ordered, pulling away. "This is my timestream, not yours. I'll deal with this."

"What?" Clara exclaimed in shock. "No! I'm not leaving you!"

"Clara, I'm not letting you get killed," The Doctor's voice was stern but he refused to meet her eyes. "If what he says is true," He pointed to Eleven. "We're all in grave danger."

"Clara," Eleven approached them slowly. "In a way, he's right. This isn't even your correct timeline, if something goes wrong-"

"I don't care!" Clara yelled, fighting tears, anger flowing through her. "You can't make me leave! I'm staying with you, I'm not afraid. I can look after myself thank you very much!"

"Clara..." The Doctor sighed, looking regretful. He turned to his other self. "Make her see sense, would you? The two of you have to leave."

"Actually," Eleven raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going anywhere. I can send Clara somewhere safe, but I'm staying."

"But the timestreams-"

"You don't have to go through this alone," The Doctor stated sternly. "We'll get through this together."

"Look boys," Clara folded her arms across her chest. She was _not_ going to be left behind. "You can moan about it all you want but I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to let you two risk your lives, not alone anyway," She chanced a smile but her expression remained challenging. "Sorry, but that's that. I am the boss after all."

The Doctor opened his mouth to retaliate but Clara cut him off, stepping over to him and grabbing both his hands in hers. She raised an eyebrow and smile in an attempt to wipe the perplexed expression from his face.

"I'm not leaving you, ever," She stated firmly, searching his face an trying to communicate with her eyes to let him know how much he meant to her. She would risk everything for her Doctor. "Alright boys," She grinned and spun away. "Let's go save a planet!"

The Doctor shook his head at her but his expression had brightened considerably. "You're impossible, Clara Oswald."

Clara grinned, satisfied that the Doctor's good spirit had been restored as he rushed over to his future self and grabbed him by the shoulders. He gave him a shake.

"Come on, then!" He yelled, dragging him over to the console. "Lower the shields, we're flying into the heart of Gallifrey!"

"Are you sure?" Eleven hesitated, eyes wide.

"Well," The Doctor paused, a look of frustration on his face. "No."

The eleventh Doctor beamed. "Alright then. Hold on, Clara and mini me! Geronimo!"

Clara grabbed the edge of the console with a grin as the Tardis shuddered into action. The white circles on the Tardis walls began to shift and change as they endured their rocky flight, shimmering into the Tardis theme Clara had known from her travels with the eleventh Doctor.

"What's happening to the Tardis?" She yelled over the sounds of the small blue police box crashing through the Time vortex as the walls changed back to plain white once again.

"There's two of us here, the Tardis is confused," Two explained with a shout. "She doesn't know which desktop theme to settle on! That's the least of our worries now! Hold on!"

Clara didn't need to be told twice, squeezing her eyes shut and clinging on to the console for dear life. She scoffed internally at the Doctor's reference to a desktop theme. She hadn't been aware that the ship even had one. The eleventh Doctor rushed to the scanners and looked at the scene outside. He blanched visibly.

"The heart of Gallifrey," He muttered ominously.

"Is it as bad as it seems?" The second Doctor yelled, concern lacing his tone.

"Worse," Eleven winced as the Tardis shook. "Whatever we're going to do, we need to act fast! The Sontarans are creating a massacre out there!"

"But what _can_ we do?!" Two cried, flapping his hands about in distress. "We don't have enough power to wipe out the entire Sontaran fleet!"

"If we could even just propel them away..." The Doctor's future self frowned in deep thought, a frantic expression playing about his eyes.

"Oh that's all very well, simply propelling the Sontarans back to where they came from," Two glared at him with a slightly sarcastic tone. "But they'll just come right back!"

"The Time Lord's can wipe their memories!" Eleven's eyes widened at his plan. "The Sontarans will forget everything that's happened."

The second Doctor's eyes narrowed. "You know I hate that memory wiping business," He growled.

"Yes, I know I do," Eleven sighed, a regretful look on his face. "But Jamie and Zoe are safe now, if they were here they'd be in danger!"

Clara's mind went back to when she had mentioned the Doctor's previous companions to the lonely Time Lord. She hadn't realised that they had had their memories wiped. Her stomach turned at the thought and disgust for the prestigious Time Lord's rose in her. Despite that, she still didn't want their planet to burn.

"Well how do you expect to harness that sort of energy?!" Two continued in despair.

"I... Oh I don't know!" Eleven threw his hands up in defeat. "There's two of us, we should be able to put our heads together and think of something."

"Brainpower," Two snorted. "If only! If we could just use our thought energy to send the Sontarans home, wiping their memories in the process!"

Clara frowned in thought. It was as if there was a little voice at the back of her head telling her that there _was_ something they could do to that effect, but what was it? She rattled her brains trying tp think but nothing came to mind in her panicked haze.

"Something like..." Two continued muttering. "Some sort of medium for our thought waves to pass through..."

"Water!" Clara cried, leaping up and grabbing the Doctor by the shoulders. He blinked at her in surprise.

"Clara, if you're thirsty the kitchen is right down there but now is not the ti-"

"No, you silly old man!" Clara yelled, a grin spreading across her face. "I'm not thirsty! Water! The water on mars, the water that uses your thought waves to make music! Doctor you could use it to-"

"-Propel our thoughtwaves through the vortex to push back the Sontarans!" The Doctor cried, finishing her sentence with a suddenly hopeful expression. His eyes lit up in excitment and he picked her up and swung her around, letting out a victorious whoop.

"Clara, you amazing impossible girl!" He grinned, kissing her forehead as she giggled. She pulled out of his embrace to grab the bottle of water and threw it to the joyous Time Lord. He caught it and grinned at his future self.

"Come on, Chinny! Let's get sonicing!"

"Oh, brilliant!" Eleven grinned widely, brandishing his sonic screwdriver. "Clara Oswald, you are fan_tastic_!"

"Let's get cracking then boys, we don't have all day," Clara grinned cheekily as the two Doctor got to work, thankfully with a limited amount of bickering.

"Pour it into that funnel, there's a good chap," Two watched with his sonic at the ready as Eleven carefully allowed the water to flow into the heart of the Tardis. Clara hoped they knew what they were doing.

"You do know that water and electricity don't mix, yeah?" Clara asked nervously, bracing herself for an explosion.

"Not this time, Oswald," Two winked. The two Doctors pointed their screwdrivers at the heart of the groaning Tardis simutaneously.

"Okay, Mini Me," Eleven yelled, earning a glare and a raised eyebrow from his former self. "Concentrate! Clara, hold on!"

Clara was thrown onto the ground as the Tardis lurched and began to make a low noise which quickly raised to a deafening crescendo. Clara crouched on the ground and covered her ears, the flow of the sound trickling through her hands. It was music, music more powerful than anything she had ever heard before. Her eyes involuntarily filled with tears at the sound, it was so full of pain and sadness, but most of all, determination.

Clara let out a gasp as the Tardis came to a stand still and lifted her head to look at the two Time Lords.

The two Doctors seemed slightly dazed after their mentally draining ordeal and were staring at each other with wide eyes.

"Scanners," Clara gasped, pulling herself up from the ground and bringing the Time lord's back to reality.

"Oh yes of course!" The Doctor ran to the scanners and gazed at it, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Scanning for traces of enemy life forms... The Sontarans are gone! Every last ship, gone from our atmosphere! It worked!"

"Oh thank Rassilon!" The second Doctor cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "I really doubted it would."

Clara laughed, relief flooding through her as she went to embrace the Doctor. "What happens now?" She mumbled into his chest.

"Now..." The Doctor muttered, his voice trailing off as he lapsed into silence.

Eleven cleared his throat. "Have you..." He looked at the ground, a guilty expression on his face. He looked to his past self. "Have you told her?"

Clara pulled back as the second Doctor gulped with an equally guilty expression on his face.

"What is it?" Clara narrowed her eyes at the suspicious Time lord, worry flooding her systems. "What?" She became increasingly frustrated as the Doctor didn't reply. "Tell me, Doctor!"

"Clara..." He murmured, taking her hands in his gentle grasp. "This mess with the Sontarans is over now and the Time Lords will want everything restored to the way it was... Our timelines have been crossed and that's not supposed to happen," He paused and wouldn't meet her eyes. "Clara, if you don't go now they're going to send you home by force."

"I..." Clara's heart began to hammer in her chest. She shook her head in denial. She had not just heard him say those words, no, there had to be some sort of mistake. "No... No!"

She looked to the Doctor's eleventh self for assurance but was met with a blank, sympathetic stare. "Clara, I'm so sorry," He took a step closer to them. "But there's nothing we can do."

"No," She mumbled, tears threatening to spill over. She felt anger raise in her as her temper flared. She looked at the Doctor and fixed the Time Lord she loved with a glare. "No!" She yelled, her voice stronger. "You can't do this to me, you promised! You promised!" She pummeled his chest with her tiny fists, weak punches all she could manage as she felt herself beginning to break down.

The Doctor grabbed her fists and stalled them in the air. "Clara," His voice cracked. "Clara, I'm sorry." His voice sounded thick with emotion and Clara couldn't stay mad. She collapsed into his arms, letting out a strangled sob as her tears spilled over.

"I'll never see you again," She gave a choked whisper as the Doctor held her to him and buried his face in her hair. She felt her heart breaking, she had no idea how she was going to live without him. She would always love the Doctor, no matter what incarnation, but this was _her_ Doctor. Things wouldn't be the same with anyone else, and it killed her that they hadn't had more time together. She had known of course that he would regenerate at some point, but she wasn't ready to leave him, not yet. She let out a choked whimper which sounded somewhat like a "No," but she wasn't sure of anything anymore. All she knew was that the arms that held her now were holding her for the last time.

"Clara," The Doctor pulled back to look at her and she was surprised to see tears welling in his ancient eyes. She blinked, allowing more tears to fall and the Doctor's face to come into clearer focus. She reached a hand up to brush a tear from his cheek, his hand hovering slightly and then resting on his face. He closed his eyes at her touch, wearing an expression of anguish. "I'm so sorry, Clara."

Clara took a deep breath and fought back her tears. She didn't want to say goodbye but she had to be strong. She looked up into his eyes and caressed his cheek gently.

"I love you," She whispered, saying the words out loud for the first time.

The Doctor pulled her closer to him, wrapping an arm around her waist. He managed a soft smile.

"I love you, too."

He pressed his lips to hers, holding her close. Clara gasped into the kiss and reached up, her hands wrapping around his neck. The Doctor's hand tangled in her hair, and Clara felt loved, felt wanted, felt _right._ And now she was going to have all that taken away.

The Doctor pulled back and looked at her, the pain in her eyes mirrored in his own. He grimaced, taking a deep breath.

"Isn't there any other way?" He muttered quietly, looking to his other self for some way out of the situation. Clara fixed him with a hopeful glance, wishing for something, anything.

The eleventh Doctor shook his head sadly. "I'll take care of her," He promised.

"Can't we just..." The Doctor trailed off, looking back at Clara, his face contorting with pain.

"You know you can't," The future Doctor sighed regretfully. "Imagine all the trouble it would cause! The Time Lord's would never let it happen, you'd have to be on the run from them fo- No... No no no!"

Eleven's expression turned to one of dread as he looked at the sudden smile forming across his former self's face.

"I know what you're thinking and you can't, you can't!"

Clara looked to the second Doctor, grabbing the lapels of his jacket urgently, unwilling to let herself hope just yet.

"What?" She gasped, eyes wide. "What is it? Is there a way?"

"Clara Oswald, how would you feel about running away with me?"

The eleventh Doctor began to hop on the spot in distress. "No, no no, you can't! the Time Lord's will find you and have you executed you idiot!"

"Doctor, it would be my pleasure!" Clara grinned, grabbing his face and kissing him briefly. Her heart leapt for joy. They could run for their whole lives, her and her clever boy, and she wouldn't care, as long as she was with him.

"Clara, you don't realise what you're getting yourself into!"

"Goodbye, Doctor," She offered Eleven a soft smile, almost apologetic. "Please, find someone."

The second Doctor ran to the controls and clamped his hand down on a button, causing the ship to lurch unpleasantly. Clara gave a shriek as a loud bang sent her tumbling to the floor. She let out a groan.

"Ever heard of a smooth take off, Doc?" She grumbled, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"A smooth take off?!" The Doctor exclaimed defensively. "A smooth take off?! The cheek of you!"

Clara grinned. "Where's the Doctor?" She raised an eyebrow, looking around at the Tardis.

"Tardis merged, sent him back to his own time before the Time Lord's get to us," Clara's Doctor grinned, holding his hand out to her and waggling his finger invitingly.

Clara grinned and took his hand as he pulled her up, confident that Eleven would be safe and sound.

"What now?" She gasped slightly as the Doctor pulled her over to the console.

"Now, my dear Clara," He held his hand over a lever and took hold of it, pulling it down with a bang.

"We run."

**Whooo, so that's it folks! Thank you guys so much for reviewing the story, especially Zarius, Aragonite, penderella, wibblywobblywhogirl and everyone else who reviewed! I hope this made you smile :) You guys are amazing! Really hope you enjoyed this story, I loved writing it! This is probably the end but I think I might write a sequel if ye're interested?**

**If you are interested in a sequel, review and let me know! :) Thank again guys!**


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